Marco the Fire Bringer
by BearerOfTheLight
Summary: After Star left, Marco's mind is left in turmoil. But after unexpected visit, he will learn not only what happened with Star, but also more things that he never imagined he could do. Set after the season 2 finale. Eventually Starco
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: An unexpected guest.

AN: Hey guys, BearerOfTheLight here uploading something else, this time about Star Vs the Forces of Evil, I'm a big fan of the show and this idea popped into my head and I thought this would make a good fanfic, and then I remembered I used to have an account here... sorry to all the followers of my Naruto story, which I will be continuing by the way, I found the files I had and it needs one or two things and I will be updating it. Anyways here's the first chapter. Enjoy!

AN2: Reuploaded due to formatting issues (Thanks to jolleIQ who messaged me)

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Marco was laying on his bed, absentmindedly playing with his dimensional scissors.

It's been three months since Star abruptly left for Mewni after confessing her crush on him. Not only the confession, but also her leaving without an explanation left his mind in distress, he had seen the tears in her eyes when she left.

Star's departure made Marco's mind a mess. His focus, his grades, even things with Jackie were going south for him. They still were together but Marco felt that the spark wasn't there anymore.

Marco found himself, one more time, just messing around with the pair of scissors, asking himself the same questions that he had asked himself before.

"Should i go see her?"

"But what if she doesn't want to see me?"

"What if she was forced to return and she doesn't want to be there?"

"Would it be appropriate for me to show myself without any invitation?"

So deep in his musings was Marco that he almost didn't noticed a red portal that opened in his bedroom. Almost. Once he caught the red glow out of the corner of his eye he jumped out of his bed and stood in a Karate form. After a moment a familiar redhead stepped out of the portal.

"Hekapoo?" - asked Marco confused

"Hello there!" - replied Hekapoo animatedly after closing the portal behind her

"Not to be rude but what are you doing here?" - asked Marco dropping his form

"It's nice to see you too, thanks for asking" – responded the woman using a tone of sarcasm

"I'm sorry H-poo, it's just that my mind hasn't been calmed lately" – said Marco in an apologetic tone- "After Star left my mind hasn't been in the right place"

"I guess that's why you can't keep your scissors alone?" - said Hekapoo while pointing at the scissor that laid on the boy's bed

"Oh, I'm sorry about that i haven't used them it's just that i can't make my mind about visiting Star" - said Marco sheepishly while Hekapoo looked at Marco surprised

"Yeah it may not look like it, but i can sense as much as just opening the scissors and it gets really annoying after a while, specially since i got my new task because of the upgraded security" – said Hekapoo while Marco looked at her, a realization dawning upon him

"Upgraded security? It's something happening in Mewni right now?" - asked Marco with obvious preoccupation in his voice

"I guess Star didn't told you before she left, Toffee returned Marco, right now a full all out war is happening in Mewni" – said Hekapoo at Marco who could only stare wide-eyed at the woman – "Just you know, right now you are not talking to me, I'm just a clone. The real me got her magic

absorbed by him, we were really lucky that the original me kept me around to do chores while she did other stuff, now i have to monitor the portal activity around Mewni to make sure Toffee's army doesn't surprise us, since he's laying low at the moment i took a moment to visit a low scissor activity which resulted to be you" – Hekapoo finished telling this to Marco who could only stare at her

"I have to go to Mewni, i have to go and help Star!" - cried Marco while he grabbed Hekapoo by her shoulders, Hekapoo grabbed Marco by his face and looked at him in the eyes

"Marco listen to me, there's a WAR at Mewni, I'll admit you're one of the most resilient and determined humans I've known but if you go there you'll be decimated, not only Toffee's army is bigger than anything we've seen before but he also has magic, magic that can fight on even ground if not better than Moon's" – Hekapoo tried to talk sense in Marco but he didn't looked deterred

"Then teach me" – said Marco while Hekapoo looked at him confused – "teach me magic or something so i can go and help her, i can't just stay here standing while Star is there fighting for her life" - Marco replied at Hekapoo could only sigh

"Dude it's not that easy" – replied the woman in a sad tone – "neither me or my original can teach you magic, i was born with my magic, it's been a nature to me since i was born" – Hekapoo said but Marco didn't looked ready to give it up

"Then there must be someone or something i can do, i need to do something, i need to help her, i need to go see her..." - Marco finished saying in almost a whisper, Hekapoo heard him and half-smiled, she could see the emotions in the boy

"There might be someone" – said Hekapoo while Marco raised his head, a glimmer of hope in his eyes- "however i haven't see him in centuries, I'm not sure if he's alive anymore"

"Who is he?" - asked Marco curious of a person who could live as long, he knew Hekapoo was able to live that long but to think someone else could was not something he imagined

"He once was called the Elemental Bringer, he was a warrior of great power and magical prowess, it's said that he's older than Mewni itself and that he was the creator of some ancient magic arts, more powerful than anything we've seen in this days, some say that his apprentices were few but their legends are still heard in this times, if it's possible for you to learn something that can help he's our best bet" – Hekapoo said to Marco who looked determined

"Please take me to see him, i need to know, i need to learn, i need to help Star" – said Marco desperately while Hekapoo pried him off from her

"I will take you to him, but don't get too excited, remember i still don't know if he can teach you something at all, or even if he's willing so don't get any crazy ideas, even if i wasn't a clone I'm sure he wouldn't have any problem in kicking both of our asses, is that clear?" -asked Hekapoo and Marco nodded, the hope and determination still strong in his eyes, Hekapoo smiled a bit, she liked that spirit the boy had

"Now I'm going to open the portal but stay close the landscape in this dimension can be very brutal we don't want anything bad to happen before we can even see the guy" – said Hekapoo while taking her half scissor out and opening one of her famous red portals, Hekapoo entered first and Marco followed her closely, once Marco passed through the portal was he saw wasn't anything that he expected from Hekapoo's description. The place in which they arrived was a very pleasant sight, it was a very bright and sunny plain with green grass and tree here and there, the breeze was blowing gently and behind them was a mountain with a waterfall and a lake, Marco looked at Hekapoo who looked as confused as him.

"Are you sure we are in the right place?" - asked Marco at Hekapoo who opened her mouth, then closed it and opened it again.

"I'm absolutely sure i opened the right portal, but this place isn't anything as i remember to be honest" – said Hekapoo while looking around, once she saw in the direction of the lake she half-smiled and looked at Marco

"I see him, come there he is" – said the woman while walking in the direction of the lake, Marco followed her, as they came closer to the lake Marco could see a figure sitting on the ground in the lotus position, apparently meditating near the lake. Once they were close enough the figure opened his eyes and stood up smiling at his visitors. Marco looked impressed at the man, he was about 7 foot tall with tanned skin and black hair, his eyes were black and had a lot of muscle, he was wearing something that looked like a shirt made of tanned leather and pants made of some sort of tattered cloth his feet were bare and his forearms were covered in the same thing that his shirt was made of. He looked to be somewhere in his late twenties but for what Hekapoo said, he knew better. Overall the man looked like a human, a very impressive bodybuilder like human, but a human nonetheless.

"Hey Ragndell" – greeted Hekapoo the man who waved at her

"Hekapoo, what a nice surprise, how's your original been doing" – greeted the man back, Marco was surprised that the man knew that this Hekapoo was a clone

"To be honest, not so good" - said Hekapoo while the man raised one of his eyebrows inquisitively, Hekapoo then gave him a short version of the happenings in Mewni and how her original had her magic absorbed

"Well that doesn't sound good at all" - said Ragndell looking deep in thought

"I know you can't leave your realm due to what happened in the ancient war" - said Hekapoo while Ragndell nodded - "so I had a little favor to ask you" - said Hekapoo while she pushed Marco forward.

"Hello young man, who might you be?" - Ragndell greeted Marco in his deep voice which combined with his height and mass gave Marco a somewhat intimidating aura that didn't match the gentle smile on the man's face

"M-My name is Marco Diaz sir" - Marco greeted back a little nervous while Ragndell chuckled

"Come on boy don't be so nervous, and call me Ragndell" - Rangdell then tried to give Marco a friendly pat on the back but almost knocked him down, Ragndell just laughed a hearty laugh, then he narrowed his eyes examining Marco

"Tell me Marco, are you from the Earth dimension by any chance?" - the man asked Marco who looked surprised

"Yes I'm from the Earth, do you know it?" - the man instead of responding asked another question

"De casualidad hablas Español?" - asked the man while Marco was even more surprised that the man knew Spanish

"Si, mi padre es Mexicano y me enseño a hablar desde pequeño" - responded Marco happily while Ragndell laughed

"Que pequeño es el multiverso, no crees?" - responded Ragndell back and he and Marco shared a chuckle, Hekapoo coughed into her hand while Marco and Ragndell looked at her sheepishly

"Sorry, it's just that's been a while since I talked to someone form Earth, but returning to business Hekapoo said that you had something to do with this?" - asked Ragndell while Marco nodded

"My friend Star, she's the Princess of Mewni and she's there fighting in the war, I need to help her, but I don't have the means to do it, Hekapoo said that you might be able to teach me something that I can use to do that, please Ragndell, I need to go there and help her" - Marco pleaded to the man who smirked at him"

"It looks like this girl is very important to you right Marco" - asked the man and Marco just nodded

"More than anything in the world" - said Marco without hesitation, Ragndell was a little surprised, he hoped to embarrass the boy a little but instead he only heard honesty in his voice, he smiled and looked at Hekapoo

"This looks like a good one, okay I will train him for a while" - Ragndell then walked over the lake and stood in the water, in front of the base of the waterfall, Marco looked impressed at the man who just casually walked over the water and saw him crack his neck and do a little stretch, then Ragndell brought his hands together in front of him, his hands took a blue glow and he then stretched them at his sides, as if guiding an invisible force, the waterfall divided in half showing what lied behind it.

Behind the waterfall Marco could see a barren wasteland and he was pretty sure that in the distance he could see a pair of volcanoes with flowing magma erupting from them, a aura of destruction made Marco tense.

"Now that is how I remembered this place" - said Hekapoo to herself

"Now Marco" - said Ragndell shaking Marco out from his thoughts - "i can train you for a while and see what you can learn, however it won't be easy, your limits will be tested and I will not let you give up, if you accept and enter there you will be there until the end, are you sure you want to do this?" - asked Ragndell while Marco looked at him, he gave him a nod, then looked at Hekapoo and gave her a determined nod at which she smiled

"Well, come on, let's not lose time, your friend needs you after all doesn't she?" asked Ragnell while he waved his hand over the water, opening a path through the water to the land behind the waterfall. Marco didn't lose any time and walked through the path without hesitation. Hekapoo followed behind Marco but Ragndell stopped her

"Sorry Hekapoo but I must ask you to stay here for a little bit" - said Ragndell while Hekapoo looked a bit annoyed - "sorry but my training methods are confidential you know, just wait here for a little while" - Hekapoo looked like she wanted to pout but she nodded and returned to were the edge of the lake should be - "the trees are in season so there's fruit if you get hungry, also my radio is over there if you get bored, you know my music tastes so you know what to expect if you want to use it" - said Ragndell at Hekapoo while she gave him a thumbs up and went to grab an apple form a nearby tree. Ragndell then turned around and walked to where Marco was waiting for him at the edge of were the peaceful lake met the desolated wasteland, once Ragndell walked through the waterfall, it closed behind him leaving no indications that there was anything at all were the opening was before, as a matter of fact there was nothing, he was standing in a barren plain of dry dirt, without any elevations, Marco wondered if the waterfall served as cover for some kind of portal to this land.

"Well Marco, I hope you're ready for this, because this won't be quick or easy, so let's get started" - Marco could only imagine what he was about to face in this world.

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AN: And that's the intro chapter, I hope it was good since I'm out of practice from writing. Also please if you have read any good "Marco has powers" story please recommend me some. Anyways this is going to be a short story, I expect like 10 chapters if not less, but that's always subject to change if I can manage to add more elements to the story. Anyways feel free to leave me a review with any suggestions or grammar mistakes. Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Kindling the fire

AN: Hello! The second chapter is here, earlier than I thought to be honest, but I had part of the story already planned. I have to find time between work time to write these so next chapters won't come as frequently, but at least I have the base line of the story already planned, it's just a matter of writing it down. Anyways here's the chapter. Enjoy!

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"Well kid" -said Ragndell catching Marco's attention -"to get started we must first awaken your magic, it may take some time but once we do that the rest should be a piece of cake" -said Ragndell while Marco just stood there looking at the man

"My magic? What do you mean my magic? Humans don't have magic, I'm just a regular human, i mean, i know how to fight with my karate, but I'm not magic like Star and her family" -Marco replied but Ragndell just smirked

"Marco, can you keep a secret?" -asked the man and Marco while curious by the question just nodded -"I once was a regular human, just like you" -the phrase shocked Marco, he had seen the man walking on water and open a waterfall in half with just a hand gesture, and he said he was a human -"I'm not from this universe though, but that's another story, the important part is that, as me, you can also awaken to magic, first give me a minute to get into my gear" -Ragndell took a step back and started glowing in a golden aura. After the glow faded the man was in a totally different attire than the one Marco saw before. Instead of the leathery shirt and the tattered pants the man had a silver vest with a black long sleeved shirt under it, black cloth pants with a leather belt, a pair of boots that looked more like a pair of knight's greaves and to finish a long blue cape that flowed in the man's back. Marco looked surprised at the change, it made the man look more powerful and a little stylish in his opinion.

"Now Marco the first thing we need to do is to get a spark of your magic, to get that we'll use this" -Ragndell then with a hand gesture opened a portal, big enough that his hand could fit trough it and pulled something from inside the portal, he pulled his hand from the portal and it closed. He extended his closed hand to Marco as if giving him whatever was in his hand, Marco timidly extended his hand and Ragndell placed something in it, it was a blue crystal. Marco took the crystal and examined it curiously.

"So... this will help me use magic? Like Star's wand?" -asked Marco while shaking the crystal around

"Nope, human magic is actually different. This crystal is just kind of an exercise to activate your magic core. It will take you a while but once you manage to ignite your spark the rest should come without problems"

"And how exactly do I do that?" -Marco was lost as how to turn on this spark he didn't even knew he had.

"That Marco is the hard part. It changes a lot from one person to another, to someone it could be a strong emotion, to another it could be a very happy memory, to someone else it could be an action of importance, the variables are so many that it's impossible for me to tell you how you will ignite" -Ragndell said while Marco got a feeling of despair on his chest.

"But then how long could it take? I don't have that much time, Star is out there fighting for her life and I need to go with her as soon as possible!" -said Marco with a desperate tone while Ragndell threw him a smirk

"You are really worried about your friend am I right? But don't worry, while we are here time flows at a different rate. Since you know Hekapoo I assume you've been to her dimension before?"

"Yeah, I went there to earn my pair of scissors" -Ragndell looked impressed at the statement

"You went to Hekapoo's dimension to earn the scissors without any powers?" -Marco nodded and Ragndell let out a low whistle

"I must say I'm impressed, I've seen the trials that crazy demon put those poor souls through to earn a pair of those, I have a little more respect for you boy. But anyways, I created this dimension copying that trait from Hekapoo's dimension just for cases like this one" -Ragndell said while Marco seemed a bit more calm

"Oh I see, so I can spend some years here while only a couple of minutes... Wait... did you just said you CREATED this dimension?" -asked Marco making sure he heard the man right

"Oh yes, I no longer have enough power to do something like that again, but when I was younger I was bored and decided that it could be kind of fun to try to create a place for myself you know, try to get some plants and stuff and after a while the place took a life of it's own" -Ragndell casually told Marco the story of the dimension while he wondered just how powerful Ragndell could be if he at some point had created his own dimension, how powerful a human needed to be to do something like that - "and then those creatures evolved after the volcanoes started erupting all over the place, if we were to compare this planet to the earth I'll say we're somewhere around the Mesozoic age, except this part of the planet doesn't have any vegetation so it's mostly predators, but don't worry, you'll meet those guys later. Anyways why don't you give a try to the crystal, maybe we will get lucky and you are a natural magic user" -Ragndell finished his tale while Marco wondered what he had not listened to while he zoned out, he just shrugged it off, after being on Hpoo's place a dinosaur or two wouldn't scare him off. Marco took the crystal and wrapped his hands around it. He stared at the crystal waiting for something to happen.

"What I was supposed to do again?" -asked Marco after he got bored at staring at the crystal

"Just try to channel something from within yourself, search for some kind of energy and push it into the crystal" -responded Ragndell while Marco nodded and went back to staring at the crystal

"How do I know if this thing is working?" -asked Marco after a couple of minutes concentrating on the crystal without anything happening

"It should be obvious, the crystal will start glowing in a colored light, the color will represent which kind of magic you'll be learning" -Marco nodded again and went back to staring at the crystal, he was focusing very hard on the crystal but nothing was happening

"Yeah, I don't think this is working" -Marco sighed before looking up to Ragndell who was currently floating in mid-air picking his ear looking bored, the pose somewhat reminded him of Glossaryck. Marco wasn't even surprised anymore that the man could float.

"And I didn't expected you to activate it right now if I'm honest, we just had to try, but don't worry, you'll get it eventually, anyways let's discuss a little what you can expect while you are here. Your primary objective at the moment will be to activate that crystal, we can't make any more progress until you do that, in the meanwhile we'll do basic survival stuff, build a shelter, scavenge for food, survive you know" -Marco nodded, that'll be easy, he already knew how to do most of that thanks to his trip to Hekapoo's place - "also as you will return to your normal age and body when you go back we will not focus a lot on working your body, but rather we'll focus on your mind, to get you ready once you get a hold of your magic" -Marco nodded seeing the logic in the man's words

"You said that you practice Karate right?" -Marco nodded in response and Ragndell stopped floating and took a martial stance that Marco wasn't familiar with.

"I'm more of a Kung Fu guy, but bring it, let's see what you got" -Marco tilted his head, looking at Ragndell confused.

"Didn't you just said that we weren't going to train my body?"

"I said we weren't focusing on it, but you will still use your skills, and it would be a shame to get those skills you've honed to go to waste don't you think?" -replied Ragndell holding his position, Marco smirked at the man and got into position.

"Ok, but don't hold back on me, you might be bigger but I know a trick or two to knock big guys down" -Ragndell said nothing and returned the smirk. While Marco was used to fighting against other Karate fighters he never fought against someone who knew Kung Fu. Marco was familiar with some styles that he saw in videos before, he knew that while his Tang Soo Do was a style with direct hits and trying to incapacitate the opponent quickly, he had no idea which style of Kung Fu Ragndell practiced. Kung Fu users were very open with their postures, and even if he knew which style he used Marco wasn't familiar with them enough to know how to effectively counter.

Marco examined Ragndell's posture, the man's right leg was in front of the left one, both legs slightly bent, his right arm was straight over his right leg, while the left one was at his chest level, his fist just over his heart, the posture was odd to Marco since it left his upper body completely exposed and the right leg looked exposed to a quick kick. Marco decided to take the chance and rushed at Ragndell throwing a punch at his head, the man simply used the back of his left hand and move Marco's fist to the left using it's own momentum, Once Marco was close enough Ragndell grabbed Marco's shoulder and planted a knee on his stomach, the air left Marco's lungs as he collapsed on the floor holding his belly.

"Oh crap, I'm sorry dude, are you okay?" -Ragndell asked worried that he overdid it with the kick

"I'm... fine" -said Marco still grabbing his stomach while coughing on the dirt. After a couple minutes Marco could breathe again normally and he stood up again.

"Sorry kid, it's been a while since I last fought and I got carried away" -said Ragndell sheepishly while Marco took his position again, Ragndell raised an eyebrow and took his position. If Marco wanted to continue he wouldn't say no.

Since Ragndell had the same position Marco decided to attack the other weakness he had seen before in the posture. Rushing Marco tried to deliver a quick low kick to Ragndell's right leg, the man's response was to quickly raise the leg, letting Marco's kick pass. Marco's eyes widened at feeling that his kick only hit air. Ragndell using the momentum created by the raise of his leg quickly stomped and sent himself forward, with his right elbow trying to catch Marco's chest. This time Marco was ready for the counter, Marco turned his body to evade the incoming elbow effectively dodging the man's attack, without losing any time Marco responded with a quick jab to the man's chest, Ragndell responded the same way as before, using the back of his palm to guide Marco's fist away, however this time Marco's position was better so he couldn't grab his other shoulder as before, instead Ragndell opted to respond with a hook directed at Marco's head. Marco used his lower height to his advantage and crouched to dodge the incoming jab. Marco feeling the punch pass over his head stood and prepared a jab to the man's stomach. What Marco saw was Ragndell's back and shortly after felt pain on his left cheek. Marco didn't saw that as the hook missed it's target Ragndell used the momentum and did a spin, effectively turning his hook into a backhand with his other arm and taking him by surprise.

Marco opened his eyes and saw a black sky with no stars. Marco got into a sitting position and looked around, close to him Ragndell was poking a fire with a stick and the man shot him a smile.

"Hey kid, feeling okay? I got you good there" -Marco rubbed his cheek as it was still sore

"I'll live, but my pride won't" -said Marco to himself while Ragndell just smirked

"You're good kid, you managed to examine my posture and get a good feeling for my style with just a couple of blows. I'm pretty sure you've fought before but I guess mostly against monsters or in sparring matches, am I right?" -Marco could only nod at the man's accurate statement - "since your spars were against other Karate users you knew what to expect and I doubt you've encountered any monster who knew any kind of martial art so I took you by surprise. You only need a little bit more of experience and speed to make up for it. Anyways it's about midnight. In this planet days are about 18 hours long so we only got a couple of hours before the light comes up. Rest for a while and tomorrow I'll teach you about what we are going to be eating and what can eat us" -Marco decided to ignore the last part of the statement and got to sleep on the dirt again. He felt tired already and he knew things were only getting started.

After four months of living there, Marco had learned many things about this foreign land. First, the land was mostly covered in rocks and metals. There were almost no plants or water. In order to hydrate Marco had to go to an underground cave were a lake was located. Ragndell was there to guide him but didn't help too much. He said it was part of the adaptation process. The man in a display of magic turned a slab of raw metal into buckets that Marco had to use in order to carry the water back to the surface. In there Ragndell had helped Marco build a somewhat decent shack were they were staying. To get some kind of comfort while sleeping Marco had to hunt with Ragndell. The man had taught Marco how to build a bow and provided him with arrows, while no expert Marco was getting adept in using the hunting tool. Speaking of hunting Marco was somewhat surprised at the creatures that inhabited the land, most of them looked like dinosaurs. With fur instead of scales but he could see the similarities between the giant reptiles and these creatures. One that really caught Marco's attention was one specie that Ragndell called the Boomasaurs. These were a horse-like creature with green fur, but what called attention to them was the big yellow lumps on their bodies. At first Marco thought that they looked like a green horse with giant zits. Then Ragndell threw an arrow at one of them hitting the creature right on one of the lumps. The creature exploded in a giant ball of fire as soon as the arrow pierced it's skin. Apparently the creature produced some kind of highly flammable liquid inside the lumps that lights up in contact with the air, suddenly the name Boomasaur made way more sense. Later Ragndell taught him how to kill one without the thing exploding and how to remove the lumps without damaging them. Marco had to admit that the taste of the creatures meat almost made worth the risk of getting his face blown off in a ball of fire.

While not on hunting or exploring, Ragndell taught Marco the basics of human magic. The differences between his and Mewman magic and how it had different natures based on the person's personality and other traits. Ragndell also taught him very basic things about the different natures since they still didn't knew what Marco's nature was. Speaking of Marco's nature the boy still hadn't made any advance in activating the crystal. Marco was getting slightly frustrated since he wasn't getting even a little glow with the crystal. A couple of months ago Ragndell had brought some kind of seeds and had taught Marco how to grow them. The plants grew really quickly and in a couple of days the plants started bearing fruits. The fruits reminded Marco of green tomatoes and Ragndell had started to make Marco eat a paste made of the fruits which was supposed to increase Marco's magic. The fruits flavor was good and Marco loved it with a side of meat. However even this wasn't enough to get Marco to activate the crystal and the frustration was increasing in him everyday.

Marco was on the shack's main room, it was a plain room with walls made of stone that Ragndell had flattened with magic, it had a table and some chairs made out of rock with fur of hunted animals for padding. Marco was sitting at the table holding his crystal tightly between his hands. After another bout of crystal staring, Marco's shoulders limped as he released his grip on the crystal and hit his forehead on the table, the frustration evident on his face.

"Hey pal!" -greeted Ragndell cheerfully as he entered the room. He sometimes left the house to do God knows what and Marco would take those times to try and activate the crystal. Marco just groaned from his position on the table.

"Still working on the crystal I see" -Ragndell took a seat across the short table and Marco adjusted himself

"It's just that this thing is doing nothing, I just focus on it but nothing is happening, I'm so mad right now" -Marco just gave a groan of frustration while Ragndell gently smiled at him.

"I know it can be hard Marco, but I think I can maybe provide some help. Remember the crystal isn't supposed to do the thing, you're supposed to activate the crystal, not the other way around, also remember you're not supposed to focus on the crystal, you need to focus on something inside yourself, a spark" -Marco remembered hearing that before.

"But if I'm not focusing on the crystal in what I should focus?" -asked Marco looking lost

"Well as I told you that depends, now that I know you a little bit better maybe I can give you some suggestions, how about in your motivation?" -Marco didn't followed so Ragndell continued - "Why did you came here? What made you come to me to learn magic?" -Marco got the idea, Marco grabbed his crystal and held it between his hands and closed his eyes. He knew exactly why he was there. He was there because Star needed him, Star was fighting in a war and he wanted to be there to fight at her side, Marco focused on Star's image on his mind. He just wanted to be at her side, to hear her laugh about some crazy adventure, to see her smile, to hug her again. After a moment Marco's hands started to warm up and he opened his eyes. He saw the crystal glowing a deep red glow. He looked at Ragndell's face and he shot him a knowing smirk. Just as he was about to speak the crystal started to fade away into dust. Marco looked at Ragndell confused and the man raised an eyebrow appreciatively.

"See Marco? I told you it was easy, you just needed the right motivation!" -said the man while Marco just silently smiled feeling proud of finally achieving his goal.

"You were thinking about Star weren't you?"

"No I wasn't" -said Marco quickly but firmly, Ragndell just smirked at him, the blush on the boy's face told him the truth

"You didn't told me the crystal was supposed to banish after I activated it. I kind of liked the thing after having it for so long" -said Marco trying to evade any embarrassing conversation

"In most cases it doesn't. However in your case Marco, it looks like you're more special than you give yourself credit for. It looks like your affinity with your nature is very strong. You remember what that color means right?" -asked Ragndell as if testing his lessons

"Of course, it was a red glow so it means I have a Fire nature right?" -asked Marco while Ragndell nodded proudly

"Yep, that's exactly what it means. Now we can start your real training. While I taught you the basics, there are many wonderful things that you can do with fire, between you and me, fire is one of my favorites when it comes to natures. Using fire magic isn't only throwing flames here and burning things there. Fire, as most of the other natures, is a coin of two sides. While the fire is mostly know to burn things and destroy everything that cross it's way, it also can provide light in the darkness and can provide heat in the cold. The fire can be used to cook our meals and helps us forge our tools. Remember this Marco, as a Fire Bringer, you need to embrace both sides of the Fire. You hold the ability to destroy, but also to help. Is that clear?" -Ragndell finished his little speech and Marco nodded in response, absorbing everything that the man just said.

"Fire Bringer? That's what I am now?"

"Not right now, but after I'm done with you you'll be. When I train someone they're not know as a mage or a wizard. They're known as Bringers. They bring the the force of the nature they represent. Once they show themselves on the battlefield they bring hope to their allies and fear to their enemies. And you Marco, you will join their ranks" -Marco was speechless and giddy. To think he could become someone with that kind of power was unimaginable even after meeting Star and fighting monsters besides her. After a moment of silence Marco asked Ragndell.

"There are more Bringers right now?" -Ragndell shook his head sadly.

"The last one passed away years ago. You're the only student I've had in I don't know how many centuries. The time flow is so messed up here that I don't even know anymore" -Ragndell said, a sad tone obvious in his voice.

"I'm sorry" -said Marco apologizing for bringing up the theme. Ragndell just flashed him a smile.

"Don't worry about it. All of them lived long and full lives. It's just sad remembering lost friends you know?" -Marco nodded, while he hadn't lost any friend in the way Ragndell had, he could imagine what it could feel like.

"But now!" -said Ragndell loudly recovering his happy mood. Marco smiled slightly at the man's attitude. - "Now that we finally know what nature you have we have work to do. We have time but I don't think you want to stay away from Star too long right?" -Ragndell teased Marco who didn't acknowledged the playful tone in Ragndell's voice, he just stood and followed the man outside. The real training was about to start and Marco was going to give it all he had.

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AN: So that's the second chapter! I got nowhere near the point I wanted but the chapter was getting somewhat long so I decided to cut it in half. Next chapter will be a flash forward to the end of Marco's training (I don't want to spoil too many of his abilities) and Marco's arrival to Mewni and a little bit of fighting. The next chapter is almost done to be honest so you can expect it by the end of the week. I hope you're looking forward to it. As always any feedback is appreciated. See you in the next one!


	3. Chapter 3: Fire in the hole!

Chapter 3: Fire in the hole!

AN: Hello there! Time for a new chapter. Luckily (for you guys) I have been sick all this week so I could spend some extra time on this chapter and I made it longer than I had planned originally. I hope you like this one, Enjoy!

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Hekapoo was relaxing on a hammock, eating some kind of red fruit while reading a magazine, rock music playing loudly from a stereo near her. Her attention was caught by the sound of moving water. Putting the magazine aside the she-demon got down from the hammock and walked towards the lake where the waterfall was splitting in half. With half-smile she recognized the two people that were behind it. Ragndell looked just as he looked when he had entered, with his tattered pants and leathery shirt. Marco however was another story.

If Hekapoo remembered his appearance correctly he was about 20 years old, his hair was just a tad longer than usual and his hoodie had seen better days, his pants made of some kind of scaly looking leather. Over his chest a breastplate made of some kind of red metal and on his hands some kind of gauntlets made of what looked to be the same material. Rangdell waved his hand over the lake and a path opened to where Hekapoo was waiting for them. Ragndell passed first and Marco followed behind. Once Marco set a foot where the water was supposed to be his body returned to normal, the boy tripped and fell flat on his face. Ragndell just smirked and Hekapoo chuckled at the boy's misfortune. Marco shot them a dirty look and walked silently still wearing the now over-sized armor parts.

"Losing my muscles sucks" -said Marco and the other two chuckled.

"Let's hope that's the only thing you lost, try readjusting the armor, that should be easy right?" -Ragndell told him and Marco just nodded and briefly closed his eyes, a bright white glow coming out from his left hand, a couple of seconds later the gauntlets and the chest-piece changed in size, adjusting to his younger body size. A frown formed in Marco's face.

"Nice Marco, it looks like you learned a couple of tricks in there, how long were you guys in there?" -asked Hekapoo trying to get some information

"Just a couple of years, the boy is really a fast learner, you'll be impressed with what he can do now. I'll say that if he was to take your test again it'll take him just a couple of hours, at worst" -said Ragndell while smiling proudly and ruffling Marco's hair, the boy looking annoyed at this

"Oh really? I'd love to test that... except that I'm just a clone and I don't want to get accidentally put out you know" -said Hekapoo sheepishly while Ragndell just kept smirking

"I hope this body change won't affect me too much, my channeling speed wasn't as fast as before when I adjusted my armor" -said Marco worried about slipping in the wrong moment. Ragndell laughed and gave Marco a friendly slap in the back.

"Don't worry my man, you just need to work your body back in condition, how about a quick spar to test it out?" -asked Ragndell taking the now familiar to Marco position. Marco smiled and got into his form while Hekapoo backed away and sat on the hammock where she was before. It's been several years since she last saw the man fight and she was curious about what Marco could do now.

The postures where about the same as the fight Marco had with Ragndell ages ago. However there were some differences. First Ragndell's hands were at the sides of his torso, a few seconds later a bright light erupted from the man's hand and a beam of light shot forming a staff. With a flourish Ragndell pointed the staff at Marco as if inviting the boy to attack. A smile formed in Marco's face as a deep red light glowed on his right fist. Hekapoo blinked and both men lunged at each other at impressive speeds, she could barely made out the form of Marco's fists or Ragndell's staff, after exchanging blows for a couple of seconds and a loud crashing sound both fighters were blown back. Both made a flip in mid-air and landed on their feet, in the original positions they were. Both men loosened their positions and bowed to each other.

"I couldn't get past your guard this time" -said Marco with pain evident in his face, a second later he got on his knee and held his stomach with one hand.

"Of course not" -responded Ragndell making the light staff disappear -"while you might retain your enhanced speed thanks to your passive magic, your strength was boosted by the workout you had over the years. Don't worry, you'll get back to that point, you just need to start working out again" -Ragndell approached Marco and placed his hands over the boy's head, a gentle green glow coming out from his hands, a second later Marco stood up again looking as good as new. Hekapoo only looked in wonder at what happened before her.

"Now, I won't hold you back any longer, I know you want to go see Star as soon as possible right?" -Ragndell said with a smile that Marco returned.

"There's some matters that I need to attend back home first, but yeah I will go very soon, once again Ragndell thank you so much for all you've done for me" -said Marco in a grateful tone while Ragndell's smile broadened.

"Don't mention it kiddo, just go in there and give 'em hell. Also remember you can come back here anytime, were it be for advice or just to visit, my dimension is always open. Same for you Hekapoo, you need to stop disappearing on me you know" -said the man winking at the demoness who ignored the man. This just caused Ragndell to smile mischievously.

"I'll be sure to come back some time. Later Ragndell!" -said Marco while taking out his dimensional scissors and opening a portal, Hekapoo followed behind not before looking at Ragndell and waving timidly at the man, Ragndell waved back and the portal closed.

Back at Marco's bedroom in Echo Creek, Marco and Hekapoo arrived to see his bedroom in the same condition he had left it , it was a little odd how once again he had been gone for years but it has only passed a couple of minutes for everyone else.

"So you said there was something you had to do before leaving?" -asked Hekapoo at Marco who nodded

"Yes, there are a couple of loose ends I have to tie here before leaving..." -said Marco and Hekapoo nodded her head, she thought the boy had some good-byes to say and whatnot

"I'll be waiting for you here then. It's not a good idea to open a portal to Mewni right now without an escort you know. The kingdom is on max security right now" -Marco nodded in understanding

"I'll be back in a while, you can use my TV if you get bored" -Marco said before leaving the room and the woman alone. Hekapoo looked curiously at the machine wondering what to do with it

Marco entered the kitchen where his parents were cooking something. It was lunch time Marco noted.

"Mom, Dad, there's something I need to tell you" -Marco called the attention of his parents

"Mijo, what's with the armor? Is there a renaissance fair?" -asked Mr. Diaz in his regular happy tone while Mrs. Diaz face showed concern.

"Marco, this is about Star isn't it?" -Marco just nodded, he knew his mom would catch on quickly

"Yes Mom, I finally found out why Star had to leave, apparently there's some kind of war at her home right now, so I went to learn magic" -Marco said and unconsciously summoned a fireball on his right hand, the sudden apparition of the flame surprised the adults, but Marco didn't seem to notice and kept talking - "so I'm going there and I really don't know what will happen or if I'm going to be back" -Marco finished his little tirade and noted that his hand was on fire. He formed and fist and the flame was put out - "Sorry about that" -muttered Marco while his parents smiled at him

"Marco I understand how you feel, we miss Star too. If you're going after her we won't stop you. Just be sure to be safe Okay?" -his mother almost begged with tears in her eyes. Marco extended his arms and pulled his mother into a hug.

"I promise to return" -said Marco separating from his mom

"Go get her tiger, and remember to bring us some souvenirs!" -Rafael said also pulling his son into a hug which the boy returned.

The boy shared a short moment of silence with his parents.

"There's one last thing I need to do. I'll be back in a moment." -said Marco before leaving the house by the front door. Marco's parents just looked at his back when he was leaving the house.

"I told you he was going after Star" -said Angie while Rafael just assented with his head.

"Our boy is now a man, and he's going after his heart. Let's hope it's the right choice"

Marco was a few steps away from his destination when the person he was looking for appeared before him. It was Jackie Lynn Thomas, if Marco was going to leave his home to an unknown future in the middle of a magical war the least he could do was give a good explanation.

"Hey Jackie" -said Marco in a not so confident tone

"Marco? I didn't expected to see you today" -Jackie was wearing her usual outfit along with her helmet and skateboard. It took Jackie a moment but she noticed the armor pieces on Marco's body. Her mind made click and sadness showed on her face

"I see... you're going after her aren't you?" -asked Jackie knowing that even if Marco was known as the safe kid, he wouldn't have any other reason to wear an armor that didn't involved dimensional princesses.

"It's not like that Jackie, it's just that there some kind of war happening right now, and Star is going to fight and i need to be there to help her and" -Marco's explanation was interrupted when he felt a finger on his lips. He raised his eyes to look directly into Jackie's.

"It's okay Marco. Honestly, i did see this one coming. Since Star left you haven't been the same. For me it was very obvious that you care for her more than what you admit" -Jackie pulled Marco into a hug and whispered into his ear -"Thanks for the memories Marco" – Jackie ended the hug, got on her skateboard and rode away in the opposite direction. Marco's heart was a little broken. First he was almost sure that he saw tears on the girls eyes when she left. And second while he on his training with Ragndell came to terms with his feelings, it was still sad to end a relationship with such a cool and beautiful girl. Marco hoped that some day they could be friends again. But now with that chapter closed, it was time to face forward into whatever awaited him in Mewni. It was time to see Star again.

Marco returned to his room just to find Hekapoo staring at something on the television. Marco believed it was a cartoon. As soon as Hekapoo noticed Marco she almost dropped the remote controller, she quickly grabbed it and turned off the TV.

"So ready to go?" -asked the demoness trying to wave off the embarrassment that Marco had surprised her.

"Yes, all set. After you" -said Marco with a smug look on his face. Hekapoo noticed this but said nothing, she took her pair of scissors and open her portal. Marco followed close behind.

In Butterfly's castle throne room the things were in distress to say the least.

Chancellors, counselors, officers and other members of the royal court were loudly discussing and causing a chaos in the room. Queen Moon Butterfly stood and imposed her authority, She currently was wearing her battle armor. She looked ready to fight at a moments notice.

"Silence" -she said in a firm tone. All the conversations stopped in the room and all the heads turned into her direction, after clearing her throat the Queen continued in the same firm tone - "I don't think there's anything that we have to discuss about this matter. We can't afford to lose the village that is being attacked, as our strategists have pointed out, if it falls it will not only affect our food reserves, it will also severely weaken our defenses. If we let the monsters pass through there, the castle will follow shortly. Not to mention the amount of people that lives in that village" - the Queen made her point, most of the people agreed on the Queen's point but a group insisted in looking for alternatives. The Queen seemed not to yield on her point. Suddenly a guard approached the Queen and talked to her in a low tone of voice.

"My Queen, I'm sorry to interrupt but I have news. It's about your daughter. It seems that as soon as Princess Star heard about the attack she got on a warnicorn and rushed to the battle front, a guard saw her and I came to tell you as soon as possible" -Moon heard the news and was relieved and worried at the same time. Relieved that at least Star will buy them time to hold back the attack, but worried about her. While Star had proved herself in the last battles she was still worried, she knew that the Royal Wand wasn't as powerful since it split and if Toffee showed up she didn't knew what would happen to Star. Toffee hadn't showed his (or Ludo's) face since he attacked her and the members of the Magic council, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he came back again.

"Star, please be safe" -said the Queen to herself. She was about to speak to the people on the throne room again when a red glow caught her attention. After a moment the attention of all the people on the room focused on the red portal that was opening, the guards went into position ready to fight whatever came out of the portal. The Queen got in front of the guards, signaling them to stand down. She recognized that portal. After a second Hekapoo stepped out of the portal, followed by Marco who looked around the room, everyone in the room started whispering amongst themselves.

"Hekapoo, where have you been?" -said Moon almost as if scolding the demoness - "You go missing for two hours and a portal just opens in the middle of the southeast village and monsters start attacking us!" -Moon was losing her temper at the woman.

"I'm sorry, it's just that since there were no activity, I decided to investigate a minor dimensional activity, at first I thought it could be a breach attempt, but it resulted that it was caused by our friend here" -Hekapoo said pointing at Marco, the Queen looked at the boy and then at Hekapoo.

"Isn't this the human boy that was with Star on Earth, what are you thinking bringing him here Hekapoo! We're in the middle of a war, this is not the time to bring visits" -Moon was about to continue but Marco interrupted.

"Actually your majesty, while the main motive of me coming here is to see your daughter, I also plan of taking part on the battle" -Moon looked at him as if he was crazy.

"I'm sorry boy, but you're just a human, there's nothing you can."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you again your majesty, but I'm no longer "just a human" as you put it. I don't know if you're familiar with the term, but now I'm a Fire Bringer" -the whispers in the room increased as the boy finished his phrase.

"I-I'm sorry boy, what did you just said?" -asked the Queen trying to make sure he heard the boy correctly.

"I have trained with Ragndell The Elemental Bringer. He showed me the ways of magic and I have earned the title of the newest Fire Bringer." -while Queen Moon just remained silent, her eyes not moving from Marco, other people in the room started asking questions confused about what Marco meant. One person moved forward and walked towards Marco. It was an elder, the man approached Marco slowly catching the boy's attention. Once the elder was close enough he grabbed Marco's shoulder's with shaky hands.

"Boy, did I hear you correctly? You said you are a Fire Bringer?" -Marco just nodded at the old man in confirmation - "so you have the powers? You have the power of the caring heat and the burning rage?" -Marco gave the man a friendly smile. Then he extended both of his hands in front of the man. After a second, a ball of white light formed above Marco's left palm and one on his right of a deep red color. Marco brought both of his hands together combining the two balls of light, once they combined, a ball of bright red fire formed which he held on his right hand. The ball floated on the air for a second, and then it dissipated in a spark. The elder looked at the display in silent wonder, his mouth slightly open.

"So it's true..." -said the man in a whisper -"i only heard the tales that my grandfather told me, but I never believed they were true" -said the elder looking at Marco as if he was a ghost -"you can save us! You can turn this war around! We can defeat the monsters once and for all now!" -the man exclaimed loudly in a hopeful tone, Marco just smiled awkwardly, while he knew he was strong, he didn't knew if he was ready to accept the responsibility of changing the tide of a war.

"I've just read the stories about the Bringers on the old history books of the library. I never believed that those were real, the last Bringer that lived in Mewni perished about 500 years ago" -said Moon still in disbelief that the boy, a human that her daughter had met by pure coincidence on another dimension, had a power only told in what she had thought to be just tales.

"Your Majesty!" -a guard charged into the room loudly, catching everyone's attention - "more portals are opening and monsters are coming out from them. This time they were spotted at the northwest settlement" -the guard informed while the Queen almost cursed.

"He knew our defenses were in the other flank" -the Queen muttered to herself, she looked up regaining her calm posture - "Hekapoo, we have no time to lose, start working on closing those portals" -the red-head mock-saluted, opened a portal and went to who-knows-were to start her work. Moon turned to Marco and grabbed his shoulder, looking at him directly in the eyes.

"Boy, I need to ask you a favor, is it true that you posses that kind of power, a power stronger than any Mewman had seen before?" -asked the Queen in a serious tone.

"I haven't tested my powers against a Mewman, so I can't say that for sure. But taking down one or two dozens of monster shouldn't be any problem" -Marco said a little nervously, he was confident in his new abilities, he knew what he was getting himself into, but even then he didn't liked the pressure.

"My daughter is out there right now, Star was spotted going to the village located at the southeast of this castle. I need you to go and help her. I need to go and help on the northwest front since the amount of soldiers that are there aren't enough to hold off for too long. Can I trust you with helping Star?" -Marco smiled confidently at the Queen

"Of course your majesty, that was my original intention anyway"

"Thank you for your help, I shall prepare a chariot to take you to the battlefront as soon as possible"

"Don't worry, a chariot would only slow me down. Can you point me to the direction were she is?"

"Guard! Escort the boy outside, point him in the right direction" -The Queen ordered a guard who was nearby, the guard signaled Marco to follow him, he guided Marco to the castle's gate, once there he signaled in front of him.

"The village is really close" -Marco noticed that the guard was pointing at a column of smoke that was rising in the distance -" the signs of the battle are very obvious from here, follow that trail and you won't get lost" -after a quick "Thank You" to the guard, a white glow emerged from Marco's left hand and a second later a red glow covered his whole body. Marco got into running position and shot at an incredible speed, only dust and other loose objects that were sent flying alerted the people of the red ball that shot past them.

Marco arrived to the battlefield in seconds, once he was on the site the sight that he came to was nothing like he had imagined. While he expected to see monsters fighting against guards there were two things that impressed him greatly. For one, the amount of bodies that littered the streets was too much for Marco, bodies of both Mewman soldiers and monsters laid on the ground. And second was the appearance of the monsters. While Marco and Star fought against Ludo's monsters, sure they were ugly, but this one's were beyond that description. The corpses looked gigantic and deformed, Marco would say they almost looked demonic. Marco could see a group of soldiers trying to fend off a wave of monsters. While the soldiers looked like their armors were empowered by magic and were gigantic, these monsters were on equal footing. Standing as tall as the magically empowered soldiers, the monsters had spikes sprouting from their backs and limbs. The monsters used these appendages to attack and to defend themselves. The soldiers looked to be outnumbered and in a bad position so Marco decided to intervene. A red glow emerged from his right fist and he charged at the closest monster.

A squad of 4 soldiers was holding their ground against 10 of the enhanced monsters, just as one of the monsters raised it's stone club to smash the soldiers, a red ball smashed against the monster's side and sent it flying to the opposite direction, in it's place a young boy with a red glowing fist looked at them.

"Are you guys okay?" - the soldiers just nodded while one of them cried at Marco - "Watch out!"

Marco turned his head around in time to see another of the monsters charging at him and using a tree trunk as a makeshift weapon. The monster swung at Marco, but the boy just raised his left hand, a white glow pulsating and forming a shield-like aura in front of him. As soon as the wooden weapon touched the white light it burst into flames turning half of it into ashes almost instantly. The monster threw the now burning chunk of wood away to avoid burning itself. Marco took the opportunity and charged at the monster, his right fist glowing red once again. He delivered an uppercut in the monster's jaw. The monster was sent flying several feet away were it landed in a loud noise, not getting up again. The other monsters saw all that happened and tried to surround Marco, once the boy noticed the situation , he got into his Martial form, and waited. The monsters seeing this charged at Marco at the same time, trying to overwhelm him. Once that the monsters were close enough Marco brought his hands together and then punched the ground at his feet with both of his fists.

" **Volcan!** " Marco screamed and columns of fire erupted from the ground all around Marco, striking at the charging monsters and sending them flying into the air. The monsters bodies and armor caught fire and they scattered away, trying to put away their burning limbs and fur.

"Have you guys seen Star around?" -said Marco turning to the soldiers once the monsters retreated

"Princes Star? She was in that direction, trying to help some peasants" -said one of the soldiers still shocked by the sudden appearance of the boy

"Thanks!" -was the only thing that Marco said before running in the direction that the guard signaled.

After advancing a few feet Marco arrived at a scene far worse than what he imagined. He was in what looked to have been a town at some point. However now only destroyed and burning buildings remained. There were even what looked to be bodies of people and monsters alike. Marco looked at the grim scenery with sadness. He only had a moment of silence before a familiar shout called his attention

"Dagger Heart Blast!" -Marco turned in time to see Star attacking a monster that was charging at her. Marco was a little surprised, first of all Star was in an armor that somewhat reminded him like the one she had used when she confused a football match with a battle, second it looked like she was protecting two people, a woman and a little girl who were cowering behind Star, but what surprised Marco the most was the attack she used. The heart-shaped crystal daggers cut deep into the monster's skin, the monster fell to the ground, Marco presumed it was death. He never saw Star being so ruthless before. But he was relieved, he finally found her, to say Marco was happy was an understatement.

"Star!" -Marco screamed running at the girl who turned around and pointed her wand at the direction of the voice, once she saw Marco's face her eyes widened.

"Marco?... Marco!" -once Marco was close enough she jumped at the boy in a flying hug, Marco caught her into his arms and returned the hug.

"Marco, I'm so happy to see you... wait no, this is bad! What are you doing here!? This is dangerous! We're in the middle of a war here Marco, Toffee came back, and these monsters are nothing like the ones we used to fight before Marco, they will kill you on sight. You need to leave. We need to get you to safety and..." -whatever Star was going to rant about was cut off by a loud roar. The attention of both teen was caught by a group of monsters that was approaching. These monsters looked like giant bull-like creatures with spikes sprouting from their backs. Star got in front of Marco and pointed her wand at the incoming monsters.

"Marco, get them to safety, I'm going to buy you some time distracting them, go!" -Star said bravely, but Marco just chuckled and placed his hand on Star's shoulder.

"Sorry Star, but you should know that I'm not one to give up so easily, also I wanted to show you some tricks that I learned" -Marco said and got in front of Star, then he crouched and placed both of his palms on the ground. A second later a burst of flames shot from his hands and sent him flying into the air. Star looked in wonder at Marco's figure, trying to figure out exactly what she was seeing right now. Marco was at the peak of his momentum in the air and his body exploded into flames.

" **Meteoro!** " -shouted Marco from the air, calling the attention from the monsters, once they looked up they only saw a ball of fire coming at them at an incredible speed. Star's mouth was open in shock at the explosion that occurred on the place were the monsters were. Most of the monsters were taken down or knocked unconscious in the explosion. Only one monster remained in it's feet, it looked at Marco's figure in the middle of the smoke that the impact created, the monster was weaponless, so he swung his claw at Marco, the boy saw the attack coming, he raised his right hand catching the monsters arm, Marco's hand started glowing in a red light and a second later fire burst from the monster's arm. The monster roared loudly and Marco released the now burning monster limb. Marco's left hand glowed in a white light and the fire of the monster's arm was sucked into Marco's body. The monster looked confused at this but before it could react, Marco drove his right fist into the monster's stomach, once he made impact, he only muttered one word.

" **Enciende** " -a blast erupted at the end of Marco's fist and sent the monster flying several feet away

Marco casually walked to a mind-blown Star who was trying to make sense of what she had just seen.

"M-Marco, what the hell was that! Since when do you know magic?" -Marco was about to answer something to Star, but a loud screeching sound cut him off. This time it was another wave of monsters, these ones looked like some kind of lion, if lions had dark fur and had giant and spiky horns. They were coming at them at very quick speeds.

"Star, is there someone else in that direction?" -asked Marco and Star shook her head

"These two were the last two people that we could save. Most of our remaining soldiers are in the other direction, since that's were the portals from were the monsters came opened. Marco nodded at this and he extended his hands at his sides, his left hand taking the white glow while his right glowed in red. Then Marco brought his hand together at his chest.

"Then leave this one to me, ok?" -Star only nodded trusting in whatever Marco was about to do. Marco waited for a moment, his hands still together, now glowing in a bright orange color. The monsters were getting closer and Star was getting worried.

"Marco! Whatever you're going to do it better be soon or the monster will get us!" Star said in a scared tone, but Marco said nothing. A second later, Marco extended his arms at his sides again and shouted.

" **Muro de Llamas!** " -as soon as he shouted a wall of fire burst from the ground in front of the incoming monsters. Most of the monsters were not lucky enough to stop in time and burst into flames, turning into ashes almost instantly. The couple of monsters who evaded the wall, turned around and retreated in fear.

"Marco that was awesome! How did you do that?" -Star asked in awe but Marco shook his head

"Not right now Star, we have to get these two to safety and then get to where you said the other soldiers were to see if they need any help" -this shook Star out of her state, she nodded her head

"You're right Marco, come this way the shelter is near" -said Star to the women and the girl who followed the princess. Marco took the rear and kept his guard up, just in case a monster ambushed them.

The group managed to arrive safely to the safe house were the other townspeople were hiding. It was an underground cellar, big enough for all the survivors. If Marco were to guess there was around 100 people in the cellar.

"Wow, that's a lot of people" -Marco pointed out but Star just looked sadly at him.

"This is roughly half of the people that lived in this town Marco. We couldn't save them in time. These monsters Marco, they are cruel and ruthless, they don't care about the lives of these people, so many lives lost Marco" -there were tears in Star's eyes. Marco interrupted the girl with a hug. Star gave but one dry sob on the boy's chest, but didn't broke the hug. After a couple of minutes Marco brought her at arms length and looked at her in the eyes. He could still see her watery eyed, he brushed a strand of her hair back and looked into her eyes.

"You feeling okay now?" -Marco asked, he knew what Star was going through. Star nodded her head

"Yes, thank you Marco, I needed that. Now let's go, we must go help the soldiers drive back the remaining monsters" -Marco nodded at her and they went into the direction of the portals.

Once they arrived the scene was actually more relaxed than what they expected. They arrived to see a group of about fifty soldiers, either relaxing in a corner or being treated by doctors.

"Princess!" -one of the soldiers called at Star and she turned in the direction of the voice, Star saw the man approaching and gave him her attention.

"Captain, what's the status of the front?" -Marco didn't thought he had heard Star using a tone of voice so serious and formal before. The man saluted Star and he began his inform.

"Your majesty, the portals were closed and the monsters stopped coming in. We suffered loses but we managed to inflict heavy damage on their forces. Most of the monsters were either eliminated or forced to retreat" -Marco breathed in relief, the Captain looked at the boy and he grabbed him by the shoulder.

"You are the Fire Bringer right?" -asked the man to Marco who looked at him oddly.

"Yes, I am, but how did you knew?" -Marco asked curious as how the man knew who he was

"Sir, I'm very grateful to you, one of the messengers came from the castle with a message from the Queen to tell us about your presence, at first I didn't thought too much of the note, but then my son came by, he said he was saved by a boy who used some kind of fire magic to defeat a group of monsters that had his squad cornered. My gratitude goes to you for helping my son in that situation sir, I'm looking forward to fight at your side in the future Fire Bringer" -said the man while Marco looked a little embarrassed at the praise and Star just grew more curious at what Marco could do.

"Please, just call me Marco" -the Captain nodded at the boy.

Marco's face then grew serious and he turned to Star.

"Star if there's nothing to do here we should head to the northwest, when I left the castle your mom was headed in that direction, she said that another attack was happening there" -Star gasped and the Captain jumped into action.

"Private, prepare the mounts, we need to go to the northwest front right now. Please come this way, we'll get you mounted as soon as possible" -the Captain gave the order to a nearby soldier, but Marco shook his head and lifted Star bridal-style, the girl screamed surprised at this

"I'm sorry, but that'll take too long. We'll see you there" -Marco said while holding the screaming Princess in his arms.

"Marco, what the hell are you doing!" -Star screamed and flailed, Marco just smirked to himself and he shot running at a high speed, the captain looked flabbergasted at this and only heard the screams of Star fading in the distance.

After a couple of minutes running Marco could made out what Star was screaming.

"Marcooooo stooooop!" -Star was holding onto Marco as if her life depended on it. Marco didn't stopped up until a few seconds later. Once Marco stopped he gently put Star on her feet, the girl's legs were shaking and she tried to stand after the ride.

"At least give me a warning if you're going to do something like that!" -Star screamed at Marco, but the boy didn't looked ashamed at all, as a matter of fact he was smiling smugly at the girl who was trying to catch her breath., After a minute Star regained her composure and she looked at Marco who was just standing and looking at her.

"How are you doing all this things Marco? Last time I checked, there was no magic in the Earth and you couldn't just call fire from the air and run at the speed of light" -Star asked Marco some of the questions that were on her mind at the moment

"First of all Star, I wasn't even close to the speed of light, as for the other questions is a very long tale that involves Hekapoo, living in another dimension for several years and learning the magic you saw me use, I'll be more than happy to tell you later, but remember, we have to help your mom" -Marco said and Star's mind returned to the situation.

"Yes, you're right, then why you stopped, don't listen to me and go. We have to get there now!" -Star yelled but Marco just chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, you see, I knew it was in northwest direction, but I don't know exactly were this outpost is located so..." -Marco looked embarrassed and Star just face-palmed.

"So, you just were running randomly to the northwest without knowing where we were going?" -Marco said nothing and Star exhaled loudly - "That sounds like something I would do instead of you Marco, you're lucky I know exactly were we are, this time I'll guide you" -Star told Marco, almost as if scolding him. Marco noted mentally this and limited himself to nod. After a moment they decided that they were going to use Marco's speed, but this time Marco was carrying Star in a piggyback style.

"See that hill over there? Go over it and once you pass it, you should see a tower with our banner on it" -said Star from Marco's back, the boy nodded and shot off once again. Star noted that while Marco was still going really fast, he was going slower than before, she was still holding for dear life from Marco's chest, but it was more relaxed. Thousands of questions were swimming on Star's head, but she decided to wait until later, she rested her chin on the crook of Marco's neck and enjoyed his presence.

After a couple of minutes Marco and Star managed to arrive at the outpost. The outpost was formed by two watchtowers and a giant palisade that was blocking a opening in a rock cliff. They saw debris and fire in some places but after that they didn't saw any more signs of battle. Star didn't knew how to feel, no signs of battle could mean either that her mother arrived in time or that the camp was wiped out. Star sighed in relief as they came closer to the outpost and saw guards on the entrance of the palisade. Once they were close enough Marco stopped and Star climbed down from Marco's back. The guards recognized Star and saluted her, letting her pass without problem. Marco passed behind Star but felt the guard's eyes on him as he passed. Once they were at the other side of the wooden wall they saw soldiers resting and eating around a campfire. After asking a soldier Star and Marco went to a tent were the Queen was supposedly meeting with a General about the recent attack.

Star and Marco entered the tent and saw the Queen and another four men, talking about something over what looked to be a map. Once they entered the room the heads of all five people turned at them.

"Star? What are you doing here? I thought you were at the southeast village, what happened?" -asked the Queen worried but Star just smiled at her

"The situation is under control, we suffered losses, but once the portals closed we got things controlled pretty quickly. Marco told me you went here so he brought me to see if you needed some help, Marco is like really quick if you didn't knew" -The Queen smiled at her daughter

"Those are great news Star, I'll be waiting to hear the report from our forces, now please wait for me for a second, I'm about to finish this meeting with these gentlemen and then we can return to the castle to discuss today's events" -the Queen gave a pointed look to Marco, the teens got the hint and left the tent to wait for the Queen to finish.

Once outside Marco and Star sat on a log that was near the tent and relaxed, after a minute of silence Star decided to break the ice.

"So... That was awesome, all the things that you did back there"

"Thank you, I trained very hard to get those powers" -responded Maro with a smile

"Are you ready to tell me how you got those?" -asked Star and Marco nodded his head. Then Marco told Star how Hekapoo found him and told him what was happening in Mewni. Then he told her how she brought him to Ragndell's dimension and told her a little bit about his training.

"Wow, you really have been busy" -said Star and Marco chuckled a little.

"Yes, as soon as Hekapoo told me what was happening here I had to come, you know"

"I'm really happy that you're here Marco, now that you're here things are looking a little bit better for us, and... I really missed you Marco"

"I missed you a lot too Star" -said Marco smiling at the girl

"Hugs?" -Marco just extended his arms and hugged Star, after holding the girl for a minute he released the hug and held her at arms distance. Marco stared at Star's eyes for a second, Star opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the voice of the Queen.

"There you are, it's time we return to the castle. A carriage is being prepared for us. It's been a long day but we still have much to discuss" -Moon then guided the teens to where a carriage was waiting for them. Marco noticed that the carriage was not the kind of carriage he expected for a Queen or a Princess, it looked more like a wagon with a cloth over it to be honest, but Marco was tired and he wasn't going to complain.

Star sat besides the Queen and Marco was seated in front of them, on the road Marco and Star's eyes met a couple of times but they adverted their eyes. Marco could felt that there was some awkwardness between them, but still he was happy that he could see Star again.

Star could also feel the elephant between them, but it didn't matter at that moment, she was really happy that Marco was again at her side.

* * *

AN: So yeah, that was chapter 3, a little bit of action, a little bit of good old fluff between Star and Marco, I had a lot of fun writing this one. Next one we're going to see a couple more of tricks that Marco learned and maybe some other things, depending on how much time I can get. Also as you may have noticed, most of Marco's magic attacks are named in Spanish. So if you guys need some sort of translation, or maybe you would like to add a "Grimoire" at the end of the chapter, just tell me and I'll do it. I hope you liked this one. As always any feedback is appreciated. See you next time!


	4. Chapter 4: Heating Up

Chapter 4: Heating up.

AN: Hey guys, time for a new chapter. Not too much to say about this one. More rant at the bottom as always, so I'll leave you to this. Enjoy!

* * *

The ride back to the castle was uneventful. Once they arrived to the castle the Queen took Marco and Star to a private room were they waited for a while for her to reunite with the war council to receive the reports of the recent battles.

While Marco and Star were waiting, Marco made small talk with Star, telling her of things she missed with her friends while she was away. Star noticed that Marco didn't mentioned Jackie at all, but decided not to mention it at the moment.

"It looks like I missed a lot while I was gone" -said Star a with a sad tone

"Yeah, but nothing was the same without you" -said Marco looking at his feet, Star smiled

"I missed you a lot Marco" -said Star with a little blush on her face. Marco was about to tell Star something but a guard entered the room and told them that the Queen was waiting for them. The guard guided Star and Marco to a room were Moon was along with King River and other men, Marco only recognized one of them, it was the Captain of the soldiers he met before. The King recognized Marco and gave a little smile.

"Marco, my boy it's so nice to see you. We've heard a lot of what you did out there by the Captain here. I'm looking forward to see how you fight now" -said the King in his friendly tone and Marco chuckled

"Indeed, you seem to have impressed the Captain's son quite a lot, there are some things in his report that are a little hard to believe if I'm being honest, but we'll see about that later" -the Queen said before clearing her throat, gesturing Star and Marco to take a seat. After both teens took a seat the Queen continued -"so I called you both here because we're going to discuss some matters about our next move against Toffee" -the Queen mentioned and Marco raised his hand as if asking a question in school. Star had to hold back a chuckle and the Queen gestured Marco to speak.

"I have been told that Toffee has returned a couple of times now, but I haven't been told exactly how" -asked Marco and the Queen responded.

"By some way that we have still to learn how Toffee managed to possess Ludo's body, our spies have interrogated some monsters and we have learned that Ludo was somehow managing to keep Toffee's influence under control for moments, but is lasting less and less as the time goes by" -Marco looked surprised at this

"So Toffee is now a regenerating ugly bird thing?" asked Marco trying not to laugh at the image of Toffee's head on Ludo's body with a beak instead of mouth

"When he first attacked me and the Magic Commission there were no changes on Ludo's body, except for his arms, the right one now has the missing half of the Royal Wand and his left looks like Toffee's including the missing finger, however recent reports from spies is what worries us the most. In most of the attacks we're noticing that some of our villagers are disappearing, there's no body or other lead to their location. We have learned that the monster's are kidnapping them. We fear that Toffee might be draining them to gain power and recover his old body" -the Queen explained and Marco felt a little scared and disgusted -"Now about our next move" -the Queen tried to continue but she was interrupted by one of the men in the room.

"My liege, I suggest we continue with my idea, we need to strike them while we can, the Eastern settlement is growing every day, and if we let it be it'll only grow more. We need to take it down while we can" -The man exclaimed while the Captain slammed his fist on the table.

"That's nonsense General, have you even seen that settlement? Even if we were to gather all of our forces we'll be at a stalemate at best. It'll suicide for our troops" -the Captain responded and then got into a discussion, eventually the King joined trying to calm the situation. Star only sighed not knowing exactly what to say in this kind of situation, she looked at her mother who was also trying to defuse the situation, she looked at Marco and saw that he was with his head down, looking like he was in deep though. After a minute Marco raised his head and spoke loudly.

"Can I see the settlement?" -Marco asked loudly, the conversation stopped and the adults looked at the boy in curiosity

"May I ask what you have planned boy?" -asked the General to Marco

"I might have a technique that can help us in this situation, but I need to see the area first to see if it'll work" -said Marco while one of the other men in the room nodded

"If you approve your Majesty, I can take the boy to the area with a scout squad for him to do some recognizing of the place" -the man said while the Queen nodded her approval

"Thank you for volunteering Commander, you can take him tomorrow at first hour, I must ask to report to me whatever you're planning to do once you scout the area" -the Queen said while looking at Marco who nodded in affirmation.

"We're going to discuss alternative plans in case that we decide not to attack the Eastern monster settlement, so both of you can leave. I'll have a servant prepare one of the chambers for you boy, I'll trust that you can guide him once it's ready Star" -the Queen said while looking at the teens and Star nodded in response. After that Marco and Star left the room and they breathed in relief.

"That was a little rough" -Marco said and Star chuckled

"You think that was rough? You should've been here for the first meetings when the attacks started. Those were a complete Pandemonium, with more than double the people. That was just a report and strategy meeting, that's like watching a movie on a Sunday" -said Star and Marco sighed, he didn't knew if he wanted to come to more of this meetings.

"So it'll be a while before your room is ready. You want to do something meanwhile?" -asked Star and Marco scratched his chin thinking.

"I don't know, maybe you could give me a little tour, it's been a while since I was here" -said Marco and Star took his hand dragging him at places around the castle.

Star showed Marco the new arrangements of the castle, Marco noticed that a lot of people was doing something around the castle, he asked Star about this and she explained Marco that since the start of the monsters' attacks her mother offered the servants' families shelter in the castle in exchange for their services. Most of the Mewmans were grateful for the offer and were serving temporally on the castle. Marco also noticed that some parts of the castle seemed to be fortified with either barriers of some other kind of magical device. Marco guessed that it was part of the protocol in times of war. Star took Marco outside and saw that there was some kind of training zone with straw dummies and targets that Marco imagined were for bow practice. Marco noticed a bow lying on the ground near the targets and took it. Star noticed that Marco was no longer following her and turned around to see Marco with the bow in a hand and an arrow in the other, taking position a good distance away from the target. Star said nothing and looked at Marco readying his shot. Marco drew the arrow back and after a second he let the arrow fly, Star looked at the target and saw the arrow landing near the center of the target.

"That was good Marco, I didn't knew you could use a bow" -said Star in awe at the boy, Marco rubbed his right shoulder.

"Thank you, I learned with Ragndell, at first I only used it to hunt, but after a while Ragndell wanted to teach me how to use a weapon, we tried swords, spears, hammers, axes, you name it, but honestly I didn't felt comfortable fighting with something other than my gauntlets, but I grew fond of the bow, so Ragndell taught me a couple of tricks and I became somewhat good with it. But it looks like my aim is a little off, I guess it's because of the height change"

"I still don't know how you do it, I mean you were in Hekapoo's dimension for what was it? Sixteen years? An now you were in that dimension learning magic for I don't know how much time and you come back and it's like if nothing happened" -Star was confused about that for a while now

"Yeah, it's odd but it's like when I return, the memories become like a hazy dream, or a memory from long ago you know. I mean, I know that the things definitively happened, but once I return it's like awakening from a long nap. It's a little confusing to explain" -said Marco with a chuckle. Star looked a little confused, but she could imagine what Marco was saying.

"So why exactly are there soldier training grounds on the castle's yard?" -Marco asked breaking Star from her thoughts.

"Well these are the camps for the guards that are in charge of defending the castle in case of a surprise attack, it's been a little boring since there hasn't been a surprise attack, so me and my dad managed to set this up to keep them entertained and sharp" -said Star with a smile that Marco returned, of course Star and the King set that up, he wouldn't be surprised if they used the equipment from time to time -"right now the guards should be making rounds around the castle, you know the usual stuff, they usually only train in the morning" -Marco nodded and Star dragged him around again showing him all the places in the castle. After a while Star took Marco to the kitchen were they took a snack that mainly consisted of corn. One of the servants found them and told Star that Marco's room was ready, Star thanked the servant and took Marco to what was going to be his room for the moment. Marco examined the room and saw nothing out of the ordinary, stone walls, a regular wooden bed, a nightstand with some kind of old lamp on it. A very bare but comfy room. Star and Marco just stayed in the room, talking and laughing at stories of things that the other had missed while they were away. Marco noticed that it was very dark outside, for how long had they been talking? Suddenly they heard a knock on the door, with a "Come In", the person opened the door, it was Queen Moon, looking at the teens sitting in the room she gave a smile

"I imagined I could find you here Star, it's getting late and your friend here has a scouting mission tomorrow, so I suggest that we let him rest for tomorrow" -Star nodded, disappointment clear on her face, she hugged Marco and wished him a good night, she left the room not before telling Marco excitedly all the things that they were going to do the next day. Marco smiled at her and she left. After she left the room the Queen spoke to Marco.

"I wish to thank you for coming here boy, not only for your help in today's battle, but for lifting Star's spirits. I haven't see her smile like this since she came back from the Earth Dimension. She seem to care a lot about you, and I can see that you care about her" -the Queen said and Marco blushed a little at the Queen's insinuation. Marco cleared his throat and replied.

"Once Hekapoo told me what was happening here, I knew I had to come, I could never leave Star alone in a situation like this. I know she's strong enough to protect herself, but she's one of the people I care the most in my life, I couldn't take it if something happened to her" -Marco told the Queen and she smiled at the boy

"It's nice to know that you care for her that much., I'm sure she cares about you just as much. Well, I'll leave you alone to rest, tomorrow I expect you to be on your best shape for the scouting as the Commander expects that as well. I bid you good night" -and with that the Queen left Marco alone to his thoughts. Marco didn't knew what to expect the next day, but he hoped that his plan could work.

* * *

The next day Star woke up early in the morning, she sat on her bed and rubbed her eyes, she yawned and lazily walked to her bathroom. Star had to add a bathroom to her room, after being some time on the Earth she couldn't live without showers or internal plumbing. Star was going to wash her mouth and then she remembered, Marco was on Mewni! She dressed herself in her usual casual clothing and ran to Marco's room. Once she arrived, she composed herself and knocked on the door a couple of times, after a while without an answer she tried pushing the door and it opened without effort. She looked inside the room and saw that the room was empty, just Marco's armor pieces on his bed to indicate her that he was still around. Star was confused about this and started asking around if someone had seen Marco, after a couple of minutes a maid told her that she had seen the boy going in the direction of the soldier's training ground, Star was surprised but thanked the maid and ran in the direction of the training grounds. Once Star got close to the training grounds she saw that the soldiers were cheering loudly and were grouped around something. Star got closer and greeted the soldiers who greeted back or gave her a high five, the soldiers being familiar with the princess who fought alongside them. Once Star managed to pass the soldier crowd she saw Marco and another soldier, both with bow in hand standing a considerable distance away from some shooting targets, about 80 yards if Star was to guess. Star looked surprised at the situation but she was more surprised about Marco's bow, the bow was huge, easily as large as Marco's height. Star looked at the soldier who had a traditional bow on his hand and was preparing to take a shot, Star recognized the man, he was famous for being one of the best archers of the army. The man looked nervous, Star didn't think that a bow could reach the target from that distance, most people could hit a target from 60 yards without a problem, but this was a lot more than that. The man readied the shot, pointed high and let the arrow go, the arrow flew and hit the target, the shot was off, landing in the outer rings of the target but it was very impressive nonetheless, the soldiers cheered loudly and the arched smirked at Marco, the soldier only said "Your turn boy" Marco turned to the man and gave a little smile. Marco readied his arrow, which Star noted was a little longer than normal arrows, and pulled the string of the massive bow, without much thought Marco let the arrow go and it flew at an impressive speed, it landed in the center of the target with a loud thud. Some soldiers cheered while others cursed loudly and passed coins to the others.

"Marco, that was awesome!" -Star said loudly and Marco looked at her with a smile

"Hey Star, what are you doing here?" -said Marco placing his bow down along with a large quiver

"I was looking around for you, but what is that bow? It's the first time I see one so large"

"It's a longbow"

"Yeah I can see that it's very long, but where did you get it from?" -Star asked and Marco chuckled at her

"I meant that it's called a longbow. It used to be very popular in Europe during the medieval times, as for how I got it, I managed to speak with your blacksmith and he gave me some materials to craft it. I woke up early and after I completed the bow and made some makeshift arrows I came to practice a little bit, then this dude saw me and one thing led to another and we were having a competition after a while" -Marco said and the soldier approached Marco.

"That was a good match, I hope to get a rematch sometime Bringer, maybe you can lend me that bow of yours, it looks pretty impressive" -the soldier extended his hand and Marco shook it smiling at the man.

"Sure, you can take this one if you want, I can always make another one later" -Marco said and the soldier looked surprised, he thanked Marco and took the longbow from the boy, he then tried to take a shot using the bow but he failed to draw the bow properly, others soldiers laughed at him and got closer trying to take a better look at the longbow. Marco just chuckled and turned to Star.

"So, what are we doing today?" -asked Marco, but before Star had the chance to say something a loud cough caught the attention of the pair. They turned around and saw the man that was in the meeting room the previous day, the Commander if Marco remembered correctly.

"Good day my lady and young Bringer, I saw what you did back there, that soldier you just defeated is one of my best archers. That's an impressive bow that you had there, care to tell me a little about it?" -asked the man in a friendly tone.

"Good day Commander, that's a kind of bow that was used in my dimension, it's called a longbow. It's designed to either let the arrows go very far distances without losing power, or to shoot near enemies and pierce their armors. One of those, if properly crafted, can let you hit a target from about 400 yards without problems" -Star noticed the passion in Marco's voice when speaking about his weapon. The Commander looked very interested at Marco's description of the weapon.

"That's really impressive, we only have the normal kind of bows over here, maybe we should discuss about this different bows that your dimension seems to have in another occasion, for now it's time for us to leave to the monster's settlement, are you ready to leave?" -Marco nodded in response and Star jumped in the conversation.

"Oh, can I come? Please?" -Star batted her eyelashes at the man who chuckled at Star's antics

"I'm not one to order you around my lady, if the Queen it's not opposed to it and you don't endanger the mission, then it's no problem" -Star cheered loudly at this and Marco smiled at her.

* * *

Marco, Star and the Commander along with a squad of five soldiers were mounting warnicorns going to the East. About what Marco felt was one hour of riding the commander gave the signal to stop. The group dismounted the one-horned beasts and climbed a little hill, the Commander signaled Marco to go behind a rock formation on top of the hill. Once Marco got to the rocks he looked over them to see a giant structure in the distance. Marco couldn't see very clearly because of the distance.

"I'm sorry but we can't risk to get any closer, if we get detected by the monsters we couldn't make it alive out of here"

"I wish I had a pair of binoculars" -said Marco and he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Star smiling at him, with a twirl of her wand she summoned a pair of binoculars, they were pink and glittery but Marco didn't mind too much, he thanked Star and used the binoculars to take a better look at the structure. He could see it was some kind of makeshift fortress made from big rocks and wood. Marco noticed four watchtowers in each corner of the fortress. The walls covered a very extensive area, and inside it there were many buildings, Marco guessed that they were barracks and warehouses. But what really called Marcos attention was the monsters, more specifically the amount of them. It looked like the monsters were in some kind of training right now, but he could see the size of the army and it was very impressive.

"Why would the monsters choose an area so open to set this kind of base?" -asked Marco to the Commander

"This used to be a forest, with a lake where the base was built. The monsters took down the trees to build the structure and drained the lake. We don't know how but they built this very quickly, in less than three days" -Marco was surprised at this, how could the monsters not only build a fortress, but also take down an entire forest and drain a lake in less than three days?

"Are there any villages or something like that nearby" -asked Marco and the Commander shook his head.

"The nearest place would be the Johansen's castle, but that's a fair distance away to the east" -Marco nodded and handed the binoculars back to Star.

"Luckily for me all of this is perfect, we can go back whenever you guys are ready" -the Commander nodded and signaled the soldiers to mount again.

* * *

A couple of days passed after the scouting mission, Marco had a reunion with the Queen and some of the higher ranking officers of the Mewman army. While Marco didn't detailed too much of what his plan was, he was fairly confident he could bring down the monster's fortress enough that a small army could take it down. While most of the officers had doubts about letting the faith of their army in the hands of a boy, his plan got backed by the General. After a long bout of discussion they decided to set the plan into motion.

It was the dawn of the day, and the monster's base was a good distance away, but it could be clearly seen from Marco's point of view at the top of a hill. Behind Marco, Queen Butterfly, King River and Star, behind them an army made from about 200 Mewman soldiers and catapults.

"Are you sure about this boy? You might be the Bringer, but even with you that monster army is no joke, we can get demolished in seconds" -spoke the Commander to Marco who smiled at him

"Don't worry sir, just give me a second and I'll get us even in numbers, maybe give us the advantage if I get a lucky shot" -the Commander looked confused, no one really knew what Marco had exactly planned to do, but they were close enough to see the army of monsters. They choose to attack at this hour because the monsters were out of the buildings training and Marco said that that was what he needed to attack. The Commander saw the monster's army easily doubled, maybe even tripled theirs. He hoped that whatever the boy had planned worked.

"You guys might want to take a step back, just to be safe" -said Marco motioning the Royal Family to step back, the group said nothing and stepped back as Marco asked. After Marco decided that they were enough distance away he turned his sight back to the monster's base. Marco raised his left above him, a white glow emerging from it, a second later a large rod of white fire formed on his hand, Marco brought the rod in front of him and it turned into a bow, made out of pure white fire, then Marco extended his right hand to his side and an arrow made out of bright red fire formed on it. Suddenly Star realized why Marco was training with his longbow so much during the last days.

Marco readied the fire arrow and drew the bow, Marco stayed in that position for a couple of minutes, each second that passed, on the tip of the arrow a flame grew in size until it was twice as tall as Marco. The flame stopped growing and a second later a whisper escaped from Marco's mouth

" **Vuelo del Fenix** " -Marco let go of the arrow and it flew at an incredible speed directly at the monster's base. Only a thin red line indicated the path in which the arrow flew. The arrow passed directly across the base and went into the distance. For a second nothing happened and everyone held their breaths to see if the technique worked. After a second a explosion rocked the ground, a giant column of fire extended in the path that the arrow had crossed. The fire consumed half of the monster's base within seconds. Star was amazed at the power of Marco's technique. She looked at Marco and saw that the boy was breathing heavily, but he still had the bow in his hand. The Commander gave the soldiers the order to charge, but Marco shouted

"Wait! I still have another shot" -Marco the summoned another fire arrow on his right hand and readied his bow again. Once more a flame grew on the tip of the fire arrow, however Star noticed that it was slower to grow and it was smaller than before. After a minute the arrow flew again and it gave a similar result. There was no explosion this time, but the fire sure was. Star saw that little of the monster's base was left. She saw that what was left of the monster's army was charging at them, but the Mewman army was already on the move, leaving Star and Marco on the back-line. Speaking of Marco, Star looked at him and saw that he was on his knees and breathing heavily. Star ran at him and saw that he was sweating a lot, Star helped him get back on his feet and had to hold him up.

"Sorry, looks like I used too much magic, I could shot five of those bad boys before without breaking a sweat, I guess I haven't eaten enough Yggdra in this timeline" -Marco chuckled but he started coughing violently, Star tried to rub his back to help him calm down but his breastplate was in the way. So she could only hold him up until he calmed. After a minute Marco was still breathing heavily but could stand on his own.

"Come on Star, we need to get in there and help the soldiers fight" -Marco said but it was obvious to Star that Marco was in no condition to walk on his own, much less fight. Marco was about to speak but the Queen interrupted him.

"Don't you worry about that boy. It's very obvious that your magic took too much of you. However you already made your part, thanks to you now we have an advantage over the monster's army. Please sit back and recover your breath, we will round up the remaining monsters" -the Queen said to Marco in a tone that told him that it wasn't up to him to choose, Marco nodded to the Queen and sat on the ground. Marco looked at the ongoing battle, Star used her wand to enhance the armors of the Mewman soldiers and the Queen transformed herself and started attacking the monsters. Most of the monsters were taken down, some of them managed to escape, but it was a crushing victory for the Mewman army. The soldiers cheered once the last monster fell. There were no casualties for the Mewmans, there were a couple of soldiers here and there with a bruise or a broken bone, but all of them would return to their families today.

* * *

A wolf-like monster entered a darkened room, nothing could be seen except for a green glow in the shape of a half-star from where a green light was connected to something on the ground that the wolf-beast couldn't see, the monster bowed down at the figure in the darkness.

"Sir, our eastern base has been taken down. The survivors said that a explosion burned down most of the base in seconds, after that the Mewman army attacked and only a few survived" -the monster spoke and a growl emerged from the darkness.

"I see, take reports from the survivors and put our spies to work, I want to know exactly what we are facing" -the monster saluted and left the room to follow his master's instructions. Whatever the Mewmans used to attack the base, he would be ready for it next time.

* * *

AN: And that's the fourth chapter! Marco's powers are too OP? Maybe, but trust me that's one of his bigger ones. I'm planning for the next chapter to be a slow one with some Starco on it, but depending on how much time I have and if I'm happy with the length I may add something that I have planned, but that's for the next chapter. I hope you're liked this one. See you in the next one!


	5. Chapter 5: Dancing is good for you

Chapter 5: Dancing is good for you.

AN: Time for a new chapter! I want to write some more about the chapter her but I don't want to spoil nothing (not that there's too much to spoil) so the rest of the note will be at the end of the chapter. Anyways, Enjoy!

* * *

It's been a couple of days since the attack on the monster's settlement. The first two days Marco didn't left his bed, mostly because he couldn't, Star and other servants were tending to him as if he was sick, much to Marco's dismay. The next day he tried to sneak out of bed, but the limp on his step and an overprotective Star managed to keep him in bed. After a couple of days he was deemed recovered enough to walk on his own, this didn't do much to calm Star's worries as she kept watch on him as much as her responsibilities allowed her. Today Star had to assist to a diplomacy lesson with her mother. Star knew the importance of having strong diplomatic relationship with their allies, specially on times of war like right now, but it didn't made the lesson less boring.

After the lesson was finished, Star went to Marco's room to see how he was doing. A sense of deja-vu hit her as she only saw his armor pieces on the bedroom. She went asking around and one of the servants told her that he had seen the boy on the back gardens. She thanked the man and went on her way.

The once beautiful flower gardens of the castle were turned into farming patches for corn and another plants, but mostly corn, as soon as the monsters attacked the cornfields. The Queen took this measure to avoid a food shortage. Star was sad to lose the flower gardens, but she saw the wisdom on her mother's actions. After looking around for a while Star managed to spot Marco with a hoe in his hand leaning over a kid, no older than five. The poor thing looked to be crying and had a nasty gash that was bleeding on his knee.

"You should be careful when playing around here, there are loose rocks on the ground and things like this can happen, here let me take care of that" -said Marco to the boy wiping his tears away with his thumb, he placed the hoe on the ground at his side and placed his left hand on the boy's knee were it glowed in a white light. After a second he removed his hand and a completely healed leg was revealed. Marco smiled at the boy and helped him up.

"Feeling better?" -asked Marco and the boy nodded

"Yes, thank you Mister Bringer" -Marco chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair

"Just call me Marco, the mister makes me feel old, now go" -Marco gently pushed the boy in another direction were a woman was waiting for the kid, Star assumed she was the kid's mother as the woman held the boy in her arms and waved happily at Marco.

"So you can heal people, is there another surprise power you have? And also, should you be using magic? You're still recovering" -said Star amused at Marco's interaction with the boy, it was very cute in her opinion.

"Hi Star, that was just a little healing technique I learned, the only one I can use by the way. Good for little wounds and bruises but that's about it. Also it was a small spell, nothing that would hinder me" -said Marco dismissing Star worries.

"And what are you doing here by the way? Are you farming?" -said Star looking at Marco picking up the hoe again and at his dirty body, speaking of which Star had to double take as she just noticed that Marco wasn't wearing his hoodie, or a shirt. It was obvious that he was there plowing the field for a while as his chest was covered in dirt and sweat. Star suddenly felt that the day was getting hotter for some reason.

"Yesterday I sneaked for a while to Ragndell's dimension to get some seeds, got scolded by Hekapoo for opening a portal by the way, and I asked your mom for a place to plant them and she let me use this patch. I'm planting some Yggdra seeds, they're like a fruit that is very rich in magic nutrients, so if I ever again get in a situation that I have to use so much magic, I eat a couple of those and I can get back on my feet no problem" -Marco explained to Star and she nodded not understanding too much how a fruit was supposed to help with magic, Star asked this to Marco and Marco explained to her some differences between his magic and the wand.

"It's like, when your wand is running out of juice, you use your charger and that's it, but since my body produces my magic I have to recharge myself someway" -Star nodded now understanding a little bit better. After the explanation Star watched Marco work for a couple of minutes, using the hoe on the dirt and spreading the small white seeds. Star looked around and saw some of the younger servants also watching Marco, giggling with blushes on their faces. She felt a little jealous but didn't blame them. Marco had a nice body for his age, she supposed it was for practicing so much Karate back on Earth, a sigh escaped Star's lips and Marco look at her with a questioning look on his face.

Star said nothing and tried to hide the blush on her face. A second later a servant called them out and told them that the Queen was expecting them. Star thanked the servant and Marco went to clean himself before meeting the Queen.

* * *

"A ball in my honor?" -asked Marco just to confirm if he heard what the Queen had said correctly

"That's right, you're pretty much a hero of this kingdom my boy, and we want to make you feel at home" -said the Queen and Marco shook his head.

"To say I'm honored would be little your Majesty, but I don't think I deserve that kind of honor" -Marco said and the Queen gave a little smile to the boy.

"To be fair, that's just one of the reasons that we want to organize this event. One of the main reasons is that most our allied kingdoms have heard about your deeds, and have requested to see you, some of them have even made offers to get you in their armies and even sent marriage proposals" -said the Queen and she saw Marco and Star go stiff as a board and the smallest of the smiles painted on the Queen's face - "obviously we won't accept that kind of proposals in your name" -said the Queen and she saw the two teens relax again -"but we won't miss the chance to boast about our newest warrior who took down hundreds of monsters just using one spell" -said the Queen as if retelling a tale. Marco wondered what kind of rumors about him were passing around the kingdoms -"besides this could be a good chance to just relax and enjoy ourselves for a while. Since the start of the war we haven't been able to host an event like this and after we took down the monsters base the scouts report little to no sightings of monsters, so we're safe at the moment"

"Come on Marco, this can be fun!" -said Star trying to convince Marco, the boy just sighed defeated.

"I guess so... I'll assist to this ball, thank you for such an honor your Majesty" -said Marco while Star jumped in placed excited.

"Good, it would be a shame if you didn't assist since the plans are already in motion. The guests should arrive by tomorrow night, stay here for a second, one of our tailors will take your measurements and prepare your suit for the occasion, I'll trust Star to teach you about what kind of behavior we expect from you as the guest of honor" -the Queen said giving a pointed look at Star who nodded her head quickly. The Queen smiled and a knock sounded on the door. The Queen commanded the person to come in and a servant walked into the room. It was the tailor and took Marco away to take his measurements. What followed were what Marco felt like hours of being a human pincushion. After the tailor and her helpers finished the base of the suit, they let Marco go not after asking him to pose with his breastplate and gauntlets. Apparently the suit was meant to be used with his armor pieces. Not too long after Marco left he was found by Star.

"There you are Marco! Come on, it's time to study!" -said Star taking Marco's hand and dragging him somewhere.

"You're actually taking me to study? Who are you and what did you did with Star?" -said Marco with a sarcastic tone. Star stuck her tongue out at him.

"This is for something that you'll actually use and it shouldn't take too long"

Star dragged Marco to a room that had it's walls full of old books, Marco assumed it was some kind of studio. Star took a thin book, that Marco noticed had Star's handwriting and explained Marco about the basic etiquette rules that were expected for him to follow in that kind of ball, and also gave him a general idea of what he could expect.

"So basically just remember to be polite, not that you aren't polite already, and expected to speak with a LOT of people. Since the ball was made pretty much for people to meet you, expect to be talked to constantly. Also expect to be asked to dance a lot, you will dance with your partner a couple of times, but it'll be impolite to reject a dance invitation" -Star finished her explanation.

"So we're going to be dancing? It's been some time since we danced together" -said Marco to himself but loudly enough and Star heard him, she blushed and sputtered at Marco who looked at her - "Everything okay Star?"

"I-I'ts just that... we... dancing... partner... I didn't thought that..." -Star stuttered a blush very obvious on her face. Marco blushed too and looked away.

"Sorry Star, I just kind of assumed that you were going to be my partner and I didn't even asked you if you wanted to go with me. If you don't want I understand, I'll just..."

"NO!" -yelled Star interrupting Marco who got startled at the loud and sudden yell, Star coughed on her hand trying to compose herself -"I mean, don't get me wrong Marco, I would love to be your partner, it's just that I thought... I mean... you and Jackie..." -said Star in almost a whisper but Marco suddenly understood what she meant.

"Star, Jackie and I aren't dating anymore" -said Marco and Star looked at him with a confused (and a little hopeful) look on her face -"after you left, nothing was the same between us, nothing was the same for me. I realized just how important you are for me, and I..." -whatever Marco was going to say was interrupted by a guard kicking down the door of the room.

"Princess, are you okay? We heard a scream coming from here and..." -the guard looked at both teens, sitting close to each other and he detected the atmosphere a little too late. The guard muttered an apology and left the room, closing the door behind him. Internally, Star was cursing the guard's entire lineage. Marco coughed and stood, stretching himself awkwardly.

" _Well, that completely ruined the moment_ " -he thought to himself - "so, see you tomorrow at the ball?"

"Yeah, I'm going to help my mom setting up some things for tomorrow" -said Star not daring to look at Marco at that moment.

"So... see you later!" -Marco left the room as quickly as he could.

* * *

It was the day of the ball, the castle was bustling with movement getting everything prepared for the event, Marco haven't seen Star in all day and he haven't dared to leave his room in all day. It was almost time for the ball and Marco was looking at himself on the mirror to check if his suit was okay. He was wearing a suit somewhat similar the the one he used during the "Song Day" just that this one was red in color. He was also using his breastplate, the red of both the suit and his armor combining almost perfectly, he had also managed to use his magic to make his gauntlets slimmer and more elegant, but a little longer, instead of reaching the middle of his forearm they now reached his elbows. Marco heard a knock on his door and went to open it. It was a young maid, somewhere around his age if Marco was to guess, the girl looked surprised that Marco opened the door, he saw a faint blush on the girl's cheeks, but she composed quickly and spoke to Marco shyly

"H-Hi, Princess Star sent me to get you. The guests are already in the ballroom" -Marco thanked the girl and let himself be guided by her. As they walked Marco noticed the noise of the people get louder and louder. For what Star told him he knew there was going to be a lot of people, but the sound of the voices told him that there was much more than what he imagined there. After a minute they arrived at the door of the ballroom, it was currently closed with two people standing guard, Marco assumed they were the people who were going to announce them. It took Marco a second but he found Star at the other side of the hall. Star was wearing a dress pretty similar to the one Marco remembered she used when she first arrived to Earth, it was a blue knee high dress, and she was wearing her hair down in her regular fashion. The style was somewhat familiar to Marco, but he thought that somehow she looked cuter.

"H-Hi Star, you look beautiful" -Marco internally cursed himself for stammering when he tried to use his confident voice. Star giggled at Marco.

"Thank you, you look pretty handsome yourself, come on, they're waiting for us" Star said extending her hand to Marco who took it as she had explained to him. Then both of them stepped in front of the doors waiting to be announced. They waited for a couple of seconds but the announcers didn't moved, their heads were low and they were leaning against a wall, Star got close to one of them and heard light snoring, Star took a step back and cleared her throat loudly, doing a perfect imitation of her mom, both men jumped into attention quickly and they looked at Star who had a mischievous smile on her face.

"So, Princess... ready to get in?" -asked the announcer trying to dismiss what just happened, Star and Marco laughed and they nodded to the announcer, both teens held hands once more and got into position again. Once they were ready the announcers opened the doors and played their trumpets. One of them in a loud voice announced the pair.

"Now presenting Princess Star Butterfly, and the FireBringer, Marco Diaz" -once they were presented Marco and Star walked into the room, Marco holding Star's hand at chest height. Some of the people who had never seen Marco before started murmuring while other tried to approach the boy. Before anyone could get near them the floating head of a unicorn stepped in front of Star.

"Princess Butterfly, such an honor to be invited to this event" -Marco was taken by surprise hearing Pony Head speaking in that tone, he wondered if she was somehow sent back to St. O.

"Princess Pony Head, such a pleasure that you could assist today" -replied Star back also in a courteous tone, both Princesses looked at each other for a second and then laughed together.

"What's up girl! I missed you so much!" -said Pony Head in her usual loud tone while Star hugged her -"and what's up with you, I've heard you were frying monsters left and right, but more important are you two finally together?" -asked Pony Head looking at Marco and wiggling her eyebrows when she asked the last question. Marco and Star face's went red and they started sputtering words not looking at each other, Pony Head laughed at them and started pushing Star away.

"Sorry lover boy, but I need to take your girl for a second, be right back" Pony Head started pushing Star to a side of the ballroom and Marco sighed in relief that he didn't had to endure Pony Head's teasing anymore. He only had time to breathe once before he was swarmed by people. For what he felt like hours he made small talk with Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts and Barons. Marco didn't even knew what all those titles even meant but since they proclaimed them with such proud Marco imagined they were important in some way. After getting his ear talked off and rejecting low-key offers of joining other kingdoms Marco was given a breathing space. Marco took the chance and went to a table were food was served. He wasn't surprised that more than half of the table was covered in food that was made with corn. Marco took a drink and looked around to see were Pony Head had taken Star to. After a second he saw the floating unicorn head dancing, term that Marco used very loosely, with a young man that looked a little bit uncomfortable with his partner. Marco smiled to himself and he hoped that everything went well for the unfortunate boy. Since Star wasn't near the area where Pony Head was, Marco looked around some more, the amount of people making it somewhat difficult for the boy. After a minute of looking around Marco finally saw Star, she was at the other side of the room speaking with a blonde boy he didn't knew. Marco approached where Star was standing and wasn't very happy with what he saw. The boy that Star was talking with was really close to Star completely invading her personal space, Star looked very uncomfortable with this and tried to step back just for the boy to step in again. Marco cleared his throat loudly catching the attention of both. Star looked relieved to see Marco and took the opportunity to latch herself to Marco's arm, he blushed a little at the sudden contact but he kept a glare on the boy who returned it with the same strength.

"Jonathan have you met my partner?" -said Star while the now named Jonathan extended a hand to Marco.

"I'm sure it's a pleasure for you, my name is Jonathan, son of Richard Johansen, duke of the south duchy of the Johansen Kingdom" -said the boy with a smirk trying to impose his rank over Marco who kept his glare and extended his right hand and shook hands with him, using a bit of force

"Nice to meet you, my name is Marco Diaz, the FireBringer" -said Marco giving emphasis to his title, he saw that for a second the boy's eyes widened, he obviously had heard of him but didn't knew who he was, until now. While Marco didn't liked a lot the new attention that his powers gave him, it was moments like this one that he liked having them. Marco was still holding the boy's hand but after a second Jonathan gave a little yelp, released his grip on Marco's hand and looked at his hand. He saw that a part of the white glove he was wearing was singed. He looked at Marco who had a smirk on his face, Jonathan said nothing, he just growled and turned around leaving them alone. Star laughed at the boy's reaction and looked at Marco.

"Thanks, usually I would have just blasted him away, but appearances you know" -said Star and Marco looked at her and smiled.

"Sorry about that, I guess my powers have gotten a little on my head"

"Na, don't even worry. Someone needed to put him in in his place"

"Who was he anyway? I think he told me but I wasn't paying attention to be honest" -asked Marco and Star giggled a little

"He's Jonathan, he's the son of a duke in Johansen Kingdom"

"Johansen? Isn't that from where your dad comes from?"

"Yep, since he's the son of the duke of the south duchy, which is very powerful, he thinks he can do whatever he wants, including invading my personal space"

"But aren't you related or something? He's from your father's kingdom and have the same last name"

"We're like third cousins or something like that, it's a little creepy, but for some reason his mother have told him that he's going to marry me since we were little. I don't even like being near him and he has gotten bloody noses to let him know, but he keeps trying" -said Star and Marco narrowed his eyes looking in the direction where the boy left.

"I see, just say a word and he'll be missing his eyebrows in a second" -said Marco lifting a finger with a small flame on it. Star laughed at this and whispered to Marco

"Could it be that you're jealous of Jonathan?" -Marco's face automatically lighted up at Star's question.

"M-Me? J-Jealous? Why I should be jealous? I m-mean it's not like..." -what followed was a string of incomprehensible words while Marco's blush intensified. Star was laughing quietly at Marco's embarrassment. Suddenly a light catchy song started playing and they saw couples dancing around the ballroom. Marco and Star looked around at the couples and then at each other, a small blush grew on their faces. Marco cleared his throat and extended his hand to Star.

"Would you honor me with a dance?" -asked Marco in a cheesy tone, Star smiled and took Marco's hand.

"It'll be a pleasure" -she responded back in a equal tone. Marco then took Star to the center of the room and they started dancing around, just swaying around and following the music. Marco's eyes never left Star's and she blushed a little but her eyes never left Marco's. After a minute the song ended and Marco gave a bow and Star made a curtsy. Both then looked at each other and shared a laugh. After a second another song started playing and Marco and Star were approached by several people asking for a dance. Marco looked at Star, she only shrugged her shoulders and took the hand of a young man who asked for a dance. Marco gave a sigh and smiled at a girl who asked to dance with him.

Star had told Marco about the dancing, but she never told him the amount of girls that would be asking him for a dance. Also, he was surprised that almost all the girls around his age, and some older ones, had flirted with him. He didn't think someone had flirted with him before, maybe except for Janna, so he was a little overwhelmed for all the attention the girls gave him.

Marco danced with dozens of girls for what he felt were hours, he honestly didn't minded, he was having fun. Most of the girls were very good dancers and the compliments were doing wonders to his self-esteem. After he danced with what he thought was the last girl, since no one else had approached to ask him to dance, Marco looked around and saw Star giving a curtsy to a boy she just finished dancing with. Star looked at Marco's direction and smiled as Marco walked to her.

"Having fun?" -asked Marco once he was in front of Star

"I can't complain... well I will complain that I got my foot stomped a couple of times, but besides that I think I like you dancing style better" -said Star and a slow song started playing in the background. Marco smiled and extended his hand to Star who took it and they started dancing together. Marco pulled Star close and both teens blushed at the closeness but didn't separated.

"So, did you had fun dancing with so many pretty girls?" -asked Star in a teasing tone.

"Yeah, I had a good time, I had to reject a couple of marriage offers, but most of them were really good dancing" -Marco answered also using a teasing tone, Star looked away from Marco and he smiled

"Don't tell me now you're the one getting jealous?" -said Marco the teasing tone more evident in his voice. Star said nothing and burrowed her face on Marco's chest. Marco chuckled and pulled Star away from him. Star looked at him, a big blush on her face. Marco looked at Star's eyes and gulped

"You know Star, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a while now" -Star's eyes widened and her blush grew brighter. Marco opened his mouth to say something but the music abruptly stopped and a sound grew louder in the background. People started whispering and some of them started panicking. Marco looked at Star and saw that her face got serious.

"Star, what's happening?" -asked the boy confused.

"That's the alarm horn Marco, there's an attack happening right now"

* * *

AN: And that's chapter 5. This chapter is somewhat special to me since it's the first time I write a real full-on fluffy chapter and also what I consider my first real cliffhanger. So, did you liked the fluff? Do you hate me for the cliffhanger? The chapter was too cliched? (I know that the answer to that last one is yes :P) Let me know, I'm always happy to receive feedback. The next chapter will be my regular action chapter once more, hope you're looking forward to it. See you in the next one!


	6. Chapter 6: Fire vs Fire

Chapter 6: Fire vs Fire

AN: Update time! And it's fighting time. An old friend shows up, but let's not spoil too much. Without further ado, the new chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

There was an organized chaos in the ball room, there were people running around in panic while the ones that were capable of fighting were getting ready for a battle. Moon found Marco and Star and called their attention.

"Kids, we have a problem, there's been an attack on a nearby village. The messenger says that the attack wasn't caused by monsters alone but also by... demons" -Marco and Star looked shocked at this and looked at each other

"Do you think it is..." -asked Star looking at Marco not finishing her question

"Tom? But why would Tom attack a village?" -asked Marco and he looked at Moon, the Queen just lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, but they also report sightings of what looked to be like the young Lucitor" -Star gasped at this but Marco remained skeptical

"Looked to be? What does that mean?"

"The scouts couldn't confirm completely since they couldn't approach the site but the attacker looks like him" -Marco tried to digest the information.

"There's something odd going on here, we must go to the battlefield" -Marco said with determination, Star nodded in agreement. Moon started ordering people around giving a little sense of order to the mess that was the castle. Most of the people that were willing to fight were given weapons and mounted in either warnicorns or carriages, in one of these Marco and Star were sitting, it was the first carriage that left the castle, the pair were sitting in silence in the carriage, Marco looked at Star, she looked in deep thought, she raised her head and looked at Marco.

"Why would Tom ever attack Mewni? I mean, if he still likes me so much this isn't something that he should do"

"I know Star, there's something wrong here, do you think Toffee has something to do with this?"

"I don't really know Marco, I hope that it isn't him doing this"

Marco remained silent in deep thought wondering if the demon Prince was really the one behind the attack.

* * *

Shortly Marco and Star arrived at the battlefield. The situation was pretty much what they feared. Soldiers were trying to fend back monsters and demons, fires roared everywhere and the sounds of metal clashing and demonic shrieks filled the air. Marco noted that these demons looked a little different from the ones he was used to seeing when he visited Tom in the Underworld, this ones looked bigger, more feral and with bigger fangs and horns, Marco thought that the same magic that Toffee had used to enhance his monsters was affecting these demons. Suddenly a roar alerted Marco and Star, a demon was leaping/flying directly at them, Marco reacted quickly and called a fireball on his right hand which he threw at the demon's head. The fireball caught the demon in the face and it fell to the ground, but it quickly recovered and charged at Marco, Star jumped into action and blasted the demon's body with her wand.

"Great, these things are fireproof, it looks like I'll have to do this the old fashioned way" -said Marco using his magic to readjust his gauntlets back to their usual form. Before either of the teens had the chance to gather their thoughts a giant column of fire erupted in that distance and a bone-chilling roar was heard. Marco narrowed his eyes and he turned to Star.

"Go and give some backup to the soldiers, I'll go check that out and try to stop the fires on the way"

"Marco no! I won't let you fight alone, I too can-"

"I don't expect you to leave me to fight alone, it's just that you have the powers to help the soldiers and I have the powers to stop that fire getting out of control. Once you have the situation under control with the soldiers we can meet at that place" -said Marco pointing at where the fire was quickly consuming the houses and other buildings. Star understood and nodded, she gave a worried look at Marco, but said nothing and ran to help some nearby soldiers, using her magic to enhance their armors, once she was out of sight Marco ran at the site of the explosion.

Once Marco got close enough a flying piece of burning wood flew over his head. Turning his head to the direction were the debris came flying from he saw something worse than what he expected. He saw Tom, or at least someone that looked like Tom, his three eyes were glowing white, much like when he let his anger get the best of him, but what called Marco's attention was his chest. Instead of a shirt what looked like red scales were covering his body, making him look a lot more bulkier and intimidating. Marco didn't let that scare him, he ran closer to the demon and shouted, calling his attention.

"Tom! What is this? Why are you doing this!?" -Tom looked at Marco but didn't said nothing, only a growl and a roar left his mouth followed by him raising his hand to launch fire at Marco who stood in place and raised his left hand absorbing the fire without a problem.

"Guess no one told you I have some new tricks" -said Marco but Tom didn't respond, he roared once more and used his demonic powers to levitate a big piece of rubble and threw it at Marco, who cursed and ducked under the flying piece of debris. Marco returned the favor and called a fireball from his right hand and threw it at Tom, the demon backhanded the fire projectile and went to counter attack but Marco wasn't nowhere in sight, the demon looked around for Marco who appeared behind him and delivered a hook to his head, Tom went flying and crashed into a nearby house, shortly the house exploded and a very enraged demon emerged from it.

"Tom! Snap out of it! Talk to me, tell me what's going on!" -Marco screamed at the demon desperately trying to return the Underworld Prince to his senses. Tom charged at Marco once more, but mid charge the demon stopped and lowered his head, Marco was confused at this and before he had the chance to speak Tom raised his head once more, but this time his eyes glowed green.

"Hello boy" -Tom spoke in a voice that wasn't his own. Marco's eyes widened as he recognized the voice.

"Toffee? I knew you had to be behind this! What did you do to Tom?" -Marco asked and Toffee chuckled

"I didn't really do too much, just a little bit of magic here and a deal or two in the underworld and the boy was under my control, you don't know how many people wants this boy out of the throne over there. I thought you would be happy to see your friend, since you became this FireBringer you have been a deterrent to my plans, so I thought it would be a good idea to fight fire with fire. Now, I must return to my evening. See you later FireBringer." -Toffee said and Tom's head lowered once more, after a second he raised his head once more and the glowing white eyes were shown once more. Tom roared and launched himself at Marco, his hands covered in flames. Marco was caught off guard and Tom's punch connected on Marco's stomach, the boy felt the air leave his lungs and he was sent flying directly at a wall of a burning building. Marco hit the ground and he coughed loudly trying to recover his breath. Marco raised his head to see Tom launching fire from his hands at him, Marco raised his left hand and a white glow absorbed the flames once more.

" _I don't know what Toffee did to him, but he's clearly just attacking without thinking, that makes it a little easier for me_ " -Marco thought to himself, after a second Tom stopped the fire and raised his fists running at Marco. Marco saw the attack coming and quickly moved out of the way, Tom started swinging his fists wildly at Marco, the speed of the demon's punches surprised him, he barely could keep up with the attacks. After dodging a couple of attacks Marco grabbed a hold of the demon's left arm with his right hand when he went for a hook, Tom roared at Marco and tried to free himself from Marco's grip, Marco used his left fist to punch Tom several times in the ribs, however the scales reduced the blows not making too much damage on the demon Prince, after a minute Tom roared and with an impressive feat of demonic strength raised the arm that Marco was grabbing, Marco tried to let go of the arm but saw that Tom was the one grabbing this time, Tom used his strength to lift Marco in the air and then slammed him in the ground, Marco groaned in pain and Tom loomed over him, Marco's eyes widened as Tom sat over him and started punching at Marco who only had time raise his arms in front of his face to guard against the attack. Marco cursed loudly as he took the punches.

"Hey Tom!" -a voice yelled, the demon Prince roared and looked at the direction that the voice came from, before he had any chance to react a blue blast hit the demon's body, a block of ice encasing his upper body, Marco heaved and threw the frozen body off of him.

"Thanks Star" -said Marco accepting the hand of the girl who was helping him get on his feet.

"No problem Marco, so it was really Tom who was attacking..."

"Yeah, but it's not his fault, he's being controlled by Toffee, I had the displeasure to talk with him through Tom's body" -Star looked shocked at that.

"But if he's controlling Tom, how is he controlling the army of demons?"

"That I don't know, he said some things about making deals in the underworld"

A shaking noise called the couple's attention, they looked at the frozen Tom who was shaking around and after a second the ice that was trapping him exploded and he roared in anger. The demon looked furious and launched fire at Star and Marco. Marco got in front of Star and raised his left hand, a white glowing shield absorbed the flames.

"Star, he's immune to my fire attacks and my punches are doing nothing to him"

"We should try my magic, distract him and I will blast him" -Marco nodded and they waited for the stream of fire to stop. Once there were no more flames coming from Tom, Marco charged at him and started trading blows. Star sneaked behind them and she positioned herself behind Tom, once Marco saw that Star was in position he kicked Tom's in the chest making him stumble.

"Star now!"

"Dagger Heart Blast!" -Star called out her spell and it struck Tom's back, most of the heart-shaped projectiles bounced off the demon's scale-skin and a couple were superficially stuck, the demon roared and launched a fireball at Star who leaped out of the way. Marco took the chance and decked the demon Prince in the head, throwing him on the ground. Tom looked furious and charged at Marco, engaging him again. This pattern repeated a couple of times, Marco tried to fight Tom hand to hand while Star sneaked around and blasted Tom with a spell. After another failed attempt to take down the angered demon with a "Raspberry Panzerfaust" Star and Marco ducked behind a pile of rubble while Tom was blinded by the dust that the explosion kicked up.

"This isn't working Marco, and I'm running out of spell ideas" -said Star breathing heavily

"I might have something that could work but I'm going to need a couple of minutes, do you have something that can hold him down for a while?"

"I have something that could work but I don't know for how long, we could give it a try" -Marco nodded and he got out cover and charged at Tom again, once more Star got in position and after Marco delivered a strong roundhouse kick the the demon's Prince chest Star launched a spell that covered Tom's body in what looked like bubblegum. Marco raised an eyebrow at Star who shrugged her shoulders.

"It worked didn't it? Just do whatever you're going to do and better be now before he gets out" -said Star looking at Tom struggling with the sticky pink substance. Marco nodded and stepped back, muttering words that Star couldn't understand. After a minute lines of fire started drawing symbols at Marco's feet, Star was entranced by this but a noise caught her attention, she looked at Tom and noticed that the bubblegum was starting to bubble, a hole opened in the pink prison and a flame erupted from it, Tom was using fire to melt the bubblegum away. Star blasted at him trying to freeze him, but the fire melted the ice almost immediately.

"Marco, you better hurry up, I don't know for how long this will hold" -Star said in a nervous singsong tone, Marco said nothing and kept muttering with his eyes closed, an indecipherable array of symbols drawn in fire surrounding the ground around him. After a moment Marco opened his eyes, a shout escaped his mouth and he punched the ground, as his fist touched the ground the symbols rose in the air and gathered behind him, a second later they started spinning and formed a circle, inside the circle a portal formed, Star watched as from the portal a figure emerged.

It was a dragon... or at least she thought it was a dragon... The thing was very small, Star guessed it reached about her knees, it was white colored and had wings bigger than the rest of it's body. The creature looked around a little confused until it saw Marco, it roared happily in the cutest roar that Star have ever heard and flew next to Marco who was on his knees breathing heavily. The little dragon-thing rubbed it's head against Marco's cheek.

"Marco! I'm so happy to see you!" -Star was surprised to hear the creature speak, more so with the voice that she thought could belong to a little girl.

"I'm happy to see you too Antorcha, I would love to talk and catch up, but I have some problems right now" -Marco said pointing at Tom, who had his left arm fully out of the bubblegum and was working on releasing the rest of his body.

"...is that a demon trapped in bubblegum?" -asked the dragon in an incredulous tone.

"Yes, that's Tom, some things happened and we need to take him down"

"Tom? As in your girlfriend's demon ex-boyfriend Tom? Dude are there other six evil dudes that you need to defeat?"

"Not the time for jokes Antorcha, long story short he's being sort of mind controlled and he's on a rampage, my fire isn't affecting him and he has some kind of demonic scale armor so my fists aren't doing nothing, do you think you can charge me up to take him down?"

"Sure! why not? I'm always down to see you take down a demon" -said the hatchling flying a short distance away from Marco who stood facing the dragon. Antorcha spread her wings and Star gasped as she saw the little dragon exhale a burst of white flames at Marco that covered his whole body. After a minute the flame stopped and Star watched that Marco was a little different. Nothing had changed on his body shape, but there were two things that she noticed immediately. First, his breastplate and his gauntlets were shining with a white glow, as if they were made of molten metal, but what really called her attention were Marco's eyes. His eyes were completely white, with no pupil and what looked like white fire came out from them. Star was impressed and a little scared at the change. Marco smiled at the dragon baby and turned to Tom who was roaring and pulling his leg that was still covered in bubblegum.

"Tom! It's time for round two!" -Marco screamed at the demon who looked at him and snapping the last strand of bubblegum gave a roar. Both boys charged at each other with their fists raised.

"Hi!" -Star heard a voice behind her, she yelped and turned around to see the dragon-thing that Marco had summoned - "You must be Star right? My name is Antorcha, I'm Marco's elemental familiar, Marco named me after we met. He has told me SOOO much about you, I hoped to meet you some day" -Star had to resist the urge to hug the little dragon since she looked and sounded so cute to her.

"What did you do to Marco?" -asked Star and Antorcha flew and landed on Star's shoulder. Star stiffened as the dragon wrapped it's tail around her in the fashion of a scarf.

"Oh, that? I just charged him up!" -said the dragon happily but then noticed the look on Star's face -"I'm from a race of dragons that are known as the guardians of the purging fire, a sacred fire that burns with holy energy. Marco might be a FireBringer but he can only create and control normal fire, that's were I come in, I can charge him up with my fire so he can product sacred flames for a short period of time" -Star nodded not really understanding what the dragon had just told her, she looked at Marco's direction and saw the boy trading blows with Tom, she noticed how Tom's body was stained with black patches on his torso and stomach, as if Marco had managed to burn him.

"So this sacred fire is able to burn Tom?"

"Yep! It's really effective against demons, vampires, ghosts, necromantic beings, you know, that kind of things" -Star said nothing else as she looked at how the fight was going between the two boys.

Tom threw a punch at Marco's head, but the boy raised his left hand and caught the fist, after a second black smoke rose from his hand, Tom roared in pain and used his other hand to attack Marco who freed the hand.

"Tom, now I can really hurt you, please try to snap out of it, I don't want to do something I might or might not regret later" -Marco tried to talk sense into the demon Prince once more but his answer was roaring and a jab to the face. Marco managed to dodge the attack and countered with a punch to the stomach. Tom doubled in pain as the air left his lungs. The demon recovered quickly and again started swinging at Marco. The boy on his part felt that the fight was easier now that his attacks were having an effect on Tom, Marco kept trying to talk to Tom but it wasn't having any effect on the demon. After a wild punch from Tom, Marco managed to deliver a punch to Tom's jaw that sent him skidding on the ground a good distance away.

"Tom please, I know you can snap out of it, don't make me do this!" -Marco screamed but after the demon recovered a roar was the only response he got, Tom charged once more, but stopped midway, Marco looked at Tom and he noted that his eyed flashed green briefly. Tom started grunting as if he was in pain, a second later a loud roar came out from him as his body started to bulge in random places. After a second Tom stopped spasming and Marco saw a couple of changes on his body, most notably his back had sprouted a couple of spikes and his arms looked a lot bulkier. His face looked crazier as he charged at Marco, who was caught off guard by the increase in speed of the demon. Tom threw a punch at Marco who crossed his arms to protect himself, the boy's eyes widened as he felt the blow and it lifted him in the air and sent him crashing through a house. Marco groaned as he lied on the ground, he felt as if a truck had run over him, he recovered in time to dodge a chunk of wall that was about to fall on him courtesy of Tom crashing on the house. Marco left the house just before it collapsed on itself, shortly after a roaring demon emerged from the rubble. Marco got in his stance and waited for the attack to reach him. Tom threw a hook at Marco who managed to deflect the attack, Marco followed by delivering a two punch combo followed by a knee in Tom's chest, the demon prince visibly flinched and stumbled a little, but he quickly brought his fists together, trying to squish Marco between them, Marco managed to do a back-flip to dodge the attack. As Marco was recovering his footing he felt a blow on his torso, Tom had managed to land a punch on him and now he was sent flying once more.

"Marco, are you okay?" -Marco looked up to see that he had landed near where Star and Antorcha were watching the fight.

"I feel like if a wrecking ball hit me in the chest" -said Marco after coughing -"Star, I'm sorry, but it looks like I need to take down Tom more permanently" -said Marco while Star nodded somberly.

"Don't worry too much Marco, even if you manage to kill him, he will only return to the underworld and his body will regenerate after some time" -Marco nodded not knowing that about the demon Prince.

"I have an attack that can finish him off, but I'll need another distraction" -Star got ready for action -"we need to be careful, I only have one shot at this and if I fail there would be no more energy left"

"What do you mean no more energy? Can't this little girl just charge you up again?" -said Star pointing at Antorcha who was still sitting on her shoulders.

"Nope, sorry but I'm still somewhat young, so I used all the fire I had, it'll take a while for me to recharge my fire" -the dragon said while Star almost cursed at the situation. A loud roar alerted the group of the charging demon. With a blast of her wand Star propelled herself out of the way while Marco leaped away. Tom looked at Marco who had landed nearby and charged at him ready to crush him down, a hail of cupcakes stopped him before reaching the boy, Tom turned around and saw Star who was pointing her wand at him. A wave of what looked like syrup erupted from Star's wand washing over Tom, the sticky liquid did no damage to the demon but the stickiness slowed him considerably. Tom roared and kept his charge towards Star. Marco took advantage of the situation and jumped, climbing Tom's back, one hand latched around his neck and the other grabbing one of the spikes that came out of his back. After Tom felt the new weight on him he started flailing wildly trying to get Marco off of him, his arms too bulged to reach his back. After a minute of flailing Tom started running backwards, slamming himself against the walls of buildings trying to pry Marco off. Marco was adjusting himself and thanks to the spikes absorbing most the the impact and the syrup sticking him he was able to put himself in position. Marco kept his left hand around Tom's neck and raised his right hand in the air, it shone with a radiant white flame.

" **Eat this!** " -Marco yelled and a inhuman roar came out from his mouth, he placed his hand in front of Tom's face and a stream of white flames consumed them both. Star had to cover her eyes as the light from the flames was too bright. After a couple of minutes the light stopped and there was silence. Star uncovered her eyes and saw Marco lying on the ground over a pile of ashes. Star ran at Marco's side and saw that his armor had returned to it's normal reddish color and that his eyes also returned to normal.

"Marco, are you okay?" -asked Star cradling Marco's head, the boy was breathing heavily

"Did we do it?" -asked Marco between huffs Star chuckled and nodded her head smiling at Marco who closed his eyes and breathed in relief. Suddenly they heard a loud cheering and they looked around to see a group of people cheering and clapping at them. They saw Moon approaching quickly at them.

"Kids are you okay?" asked Moon worriedly while she hugged Star.

"Yeah don't worry mom , we have everything under control" -said Star while Marco chuckled but then started coughing loudly.

"I think one of my ribs is broken" -said Marco in a pained tone. Moon quickly ordered two soldiers to bring a stretcher for him.

* * *

"And so after you two managed to take down Prince Lucitor, most of the demons lost their strength and returned to the underworld." -the Queen finished telling both Star and Marco what had happened with the battle while they were dealing with Tom.

The group was currently on Marco's room. Marco was resting on the bed, his midsection heavily bandaged. The fight with Tom had left him a couple of broken ribs and bruises all over his body. Star was sitting on the bed next to him while the Queen was sitting on a chair at a side of the bed. Antorcha was still hanging around, resting at the head of Marco's bed.

From what the Queen had told them, the fight had gone very well. After Star enhanced the soldiers armors and left to look for Marco, the chariots that carried the people that were at the ball arrived and backed up the soldiers along with the Queen and King River. The combined forces managed to make the demon army fall back and they managed to keep the demons from reaching the place were Marco and Star were fighting against Tom. Once Tom was defeated the demons retreated or returned to the underworld.

"A lot of our guests managed to take glimpses at your fight. You made a really good impression on them. Both of you. I'm very proud of you kids" -said Moon while Star hugged her and Marco gave a little smile in his place on the bed.

"So, I'll leave you two for the night. It's very late and I'll need to get the reports of our loses tomorrow. I wish you a good night Marco. Star don't stay too much as I'm sure that the young man needs to rest his wounds." -said Moon before leaving the room. Marco and Star stayed silent for a moment not knowing exactly what to say. Star looked at the third occupant of the room and asked at Marco.

"So, I see that your dragon is still here" -Star pointed at Antorcha who flew and perched herself on Star's shoulders again.

"Yeah, she's still young, so she can't open a portal back home by herself"

"Oh, I see. If you want me I can use Marco's scissors to open a portal back to your home" -said Star to Antorcha who shook her head

"That won't work, my home isn't on another dimension, it's on an entirely different plane. That's why you need to do a ritual to summon me" -Star felt bad for the little dragon

"That's too bad, I didn't wanted you to stay away from home"

"Don't worry, it can get a little boring back at home, I don't mind staying here with Marco and you" -said Antorcha while Star petted her head, Marco smiled at them and closed his eyes wincing a little at the pain that he felt.

"Not to be rude, but I kind of want to sleep for a while, I didn't noticed in the middle of the battle but Tom did quite a number on me and I want to sleep the pain away" -said Marco while Star looked him and smiled.

"Don't worry Marco I understand. Have sweet dreams, Antorcha and I are going to have a sleepover"

"Yay! I have so much dirt on Marco that I can give you, come on, come on!" -the little dragon said in an excited tone and Star looked really interested. Marco widened his eyes when he heard that.

"Don't listen to anything that the baby tells you!" -Marco yelled and Antorcha huffed offended

"I'm NOT a baby! I'm almost as old as you!"

"Yeah but that's like not even a month in dragon years!"

"Whatever, just for that I'm telling Star the juicy details too" -Star and Antorcha left the room giggling between themselves. Marco groaned but closed his eyes, he was too tired to care at the moment.

* * *

AN: And so, that concludes chapter 6. Hopefully I'm getting better at writing fight scenes. About Tom, I don't personally like him a lot, but I also don't hate him, so I thought this was a good way go go about the fight. Also I wanted an enemy that was able to push Marco a bit further, so what better way to do it than using the future King of the underworld. Next chapter should be a slow one once again, that means little to no fighting, I think it will be a short one, but it should be up quickly. Anyways, I'll see you around on the next one. Bye!


	7. Chapter 7: Fun at the Festival

Chapter 7 – Fun at the Festival

AN: Hello! Time for a new chapter, this one is not as short nor as peaceful as I initially thought it would be, but here it is anyways, I hope you guys like it, without further ado, here it is

* * *

It's been almost a month since the battle against Tom. Marco's wounds have been recovering without problems with a little help of magic. Right now Marco was in the middle of one of the villages near the castle, he was helping with the reconstruction of the houses that were destroyed during the attacks, while Marco didn't knew too much about building houses, he helped carrying materials around and lifting heavy rubble, Marco didn't noticed it, but thanks to his helpful attitude and the nice way he treated the people he was getting pretty popular among the townsfolk. Marco was in the middle of lifting a half burned log when he heard loud footsteps approaching, trying to be careful and not hit the person accidentally with the log, he placed it down and turned around, he saw King River approaching, dressed in a pair of brown pants and a brown shirt. He could pass as an average villager if it wasn't for the fact that he was still wearing his crown and for his signature long beard.

"Marco! How are you feeling my boy?" -greeted the King loudly and Marco smiled at him

"Still a little sore, but nothing to keep me down sir" -Marco answered and River laughed loudly and patted/slapped Marco in the back. Marco grunted in pain and the King apologized. After a couple of minutes River helped Marco carry debris and materials around to help the villagers in the reconstruction. Marco hoisted 3 large beams of wood easily, River saw this and took it as a personal challenge, the King managed to lift 5 beams with some difficulty.

"So, Marco" -said the King with a little effort in his voice, Marco noticed this but said nothing- "are you excited for the upcoming festival?" -asked River and Marco put a thoughtful face. Star had mentioned the festival to him and had been very busy with it, but Marco didn't knew too much about the event.

"Star told me about the festival, and I have definitively seen everyone busy setting up everything, but to be honest I don't know too much about this kind of festival, I'm sure they aren't like the ones we had on Earth, I kind of wanted to know more about it, I may be able to take Star on a dat..." -Marco stopped talking to himself once he remembered he was speaking with the King, Star's father. Marco blushed deeply once he realized what he was saying and got very nervous. River saw the expressions playing into Marco's face and once he stopped talking he gave a loud laugh and pulled Marco into a one armed hug.

"Don't worry Marco, I'm sure that there can be some time for you and Star to "hang out" for a while" -River said this wiggling his eyebrows, Marco never thought he could get to this level of embarrassment - "But to be honest I wanted to talk to you about one of the events that will be on the festival" -River sounded casual but a little serious, Marco placed down the beams of wood near one of the houses that were being built, the king following suit. Marco raised an eyebrow at the King and he continued - "This festival is meant to lift the spirits of everyone, I wanted to throw a giant party, but you know, Moon can be a party pooper as you kids say" -Marco rolled his eyes at the King -"anyways, one of the main events of the festival is going to be a little tournament between some of the young men of the nearby allied kingdoms that are invited to the event. This event haven't been held in a couple of years, and it's traditionally believed that the winner of the tournament has a better chance of becoming the next King" -Marco looked surprised at this, River gave a little smirk to Marco -"but I wouldn't worry too much about that, since everyone in the kingdom knows that you're pretty much crowned at this point, you know, after Ruberiot's song" -Marco wanted to die of embarrassment at that, most of the people in the kingdom thought that he and Star were together? He haven't' even asked her for a date! The King saw Marco's expression and was internally dying of laughter but acted as if he didn't noticed and kept talking -"Anyway, since the popular belief is strong, people could ask questions if you aren't participating, also if you didn't knew you're getting very popular amongst the people, and some of them would be disappointed if you didn't participate you know" -Marco still felt embarrassed but he was interested in the tournament.

"So if I participate, what I'm supposed to do?" -Marco asked and the King smiled.

"Sorry my boy, but I'm not allowed to ruin the surprise, Moon was very clear about giving hints, I only can tell you that it's going to be a tournament with multiple events, but don't worry, I've seen your competition and the only one you have to worry about is little Jonathan" -said River animatedly since Marco sounded interested

"Jonathan you said? The same Jonathan who was on the ball?"

"So you've met Jonathan before?"

"Yeah I did met him, and it wasn't a pleasant to meet him..." -Marco said and the King sighed

"So, he still has the bad attitude I guess?"

"Bad attitude it's not the term I would use, but yes he wasn't very nice to me or Star, I hope he isn't too mad that I burnt his glove" -said Marco and River raised an eyebrow but didn't question him.

"While Jonathan has the strength and will of a Johansen, sadly he got his mother's attitude. His mother comes from the Butterfly family, she got a low nobility rank, but she thinks she's important. To this date we still don't know how she managed to marry the duke, but she did and since she raised Jonathan he got all of her ideas, I still remember when Star broke that kid's nose" -River chuckled to himself remembering old times -"in any case, he will be in the competition too, he's a strong challenger, but someone might be able to knock him down a peg or two" -River winked at Marco and he smirked at him.

A week later the first day of the festival started and the tournament would be held. With a little help from King River they managed to keep Star from knowing that Marco would be the last participant of the tournament. Star woke up early and went to wake up Marco. They went together to the festival that was already bustling with activity in the morning. Marco and Star attracted some attention since Star was dressed in her blue "princess dress" and Antorcha was perched on her shoulders and Marco was wearing his usual red hoodie, he had told Star that he wasn't going to wear his armor pieces for the festival. Marco and Star walked around the festival, they ate some corn-based snacks, watched a puppet show and listened to some bards who were singing. After sharing a laugh with Marco about a funny song that they heard Star looked up and saw that it was almost noon.

"I have to be at the tournament opening soon, so I have to go, are you sure you don't want to come? I can get us good seats"

"Don't worry Star, I have some things to do, but don't worry, I'll catch up later and we can continue with our da... day! We can continue with our day of fun here!" -Marco caught himself before letting that slip, Star smiled and giggled at Marco and started walking away. Marco breathed deeply, happy that he didn't embarrassed himself (too much) again. Once he couldn't see Star anymore Marco went to where the King had showed him that the participants were going to gather. Marco arrived at the familiar building, that looked like a stable in his opinion, he knocked the door once and since it was open he stuck his head in and looked around, as soon as he did, someone took him by the arm and pulled him in.

"Mr FireBringer, thank the heavens you're here, we thought you were going to be late, thankfully you're just in time. No time to explain, hurry you must get into the arena, I'll go give the signal for them to announce you, stay here" -Marco was pushed around into a room and the man who was pushing him left in a hurry, Marco had no time to ask him any questions, he sighed and waited to hear his name. He could hear the roars of the crowd as one of the competitors was announced. Marco looked around the room and saw that his armor was where he left it the last day. He took off his hoodie, and put his armor over his white shirt, he then put on his gauntlets and moved his hands around making sure that everything was in the right place. After a minute a door was opened and he hear the cheers of the crowd louder than before.

"And now, as our surprise last competitor, someone that you might know and love, he came from another dimension just to help us on our hour of need. Introducing the FireBringer himself, Marco Diaz!" -Marco thought that the introduction was a little bit too much, but he walked out as soon as he heard his name. Marco stepped out into a space that looked somewhat like a gladiator's arena. Marco was surprised that such a big area could be adapted into this arena in such a short time. The cheers of the crowd were deafening. Marco waved happily at the crowd, he looked around and saw that in a box above the crowd, the King, the Queen and Star were seated. Marco saw that Star was wide-eyed with her mouth open looking at him, Marco sent a wink in her direction that snapped her out of her stupor and he saw her screaming at her parents. Marco saw that the Queen remained calm while the King was trying to calm her down. Marco smiled to himself and looked at the other people in the arena. Marco saw that there were another seven participants on the arena. All of the other participants looked to be around his age or a little older. Marco noticed Jonathan looking at him, he looked at him with no expression on his face. Marco didn't knew if he was one of the ones that saw the fight against Tom, but at the very least he should have heard the rumors, Marco stepped in line with the other people in the arena, most of them took no notice of him except for one boy, he looked a little younger than him, definitively a head shorter than him, he had blonde hair and had a look of admiration when he approached Marco.

"Mr FireBringer? It's an honor to meet you, my name is Joshua!" -the boy greeted animatedly and Marco smiled awkwardly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Joshua, but please call me Marco, it's still a little odd for me when people call me like that"

"I'm sorry Mr Fir... I mean Marco, I have heard many things about you, I was hoping to win on this tournament but I didn't expected you to be here, now we're all guaranteed to lose against you" -Marco chuckled and patted the boy in the back.

"Don't worry man, I might have fire magic, but who knows what they are going to throw at us in this thing, maybe we have to do something that you're good at and I suck at doing" -Joshua was going to say something but a loud voice, that belonged to Queen Moon, interrupted him.

"Now that all the contestants are here, we shall begin with the first event. Star, if you may?" -the Queen motioned to Star who raised her wand and cast a spell over the arena. After a second bright rainbow colored railing appeared in the center of the arena creating a circle.

"A track?" -one of the other participants asked and cold sweat ran on Marco's back. His fear was confirmed as he saw men guiding Warnicorns into the track.

"The first event will be a Warnicorn race, as to not give any of the contestants any advantages they will all be mounting Warnicorns from our stables" -to say Marco was nervous will be an understatement. He had never mounted a horse, let alone a Warnicorn, when he was on Ragndell's place they tried to tame some of the creatures but it hadn't worked out, it was more like them holding onto the backs of the beasts to save their lives.

"Emm... Marco? Are you feeling okay?" -Marco snapped out from his trance as he heard Joshua's voice.

"I think I just cursed myself, I have no idea on how to mount a Warnicorn" -whispered Marco to the boy who placed a hand on his shoulder in pity.

After a couple of minutes all the participants were mounted and positioned at the starting line. Marco managed to keep a straight face but he was panicking internally. After a couple of minutes, Star used her wand to created a firework that signaled the start of the race. Marco used his heels to gently poke the Warnicorn on the ribs, the beast used to the signal shot ahead and Marco held as hard as he could. Marco's performance was a disaster to say the least, he came in 7th place, he didn't finished last just because one of the other boys got a really rowdy Warnicorn and couldn't get the beast the follow his directions. Once Marco finished the last lap he tried to dismount the beast just to fall off with his back on the dirt. He stood up and looked at Star's direction, he saw the she had tears on her eyes and both hands on her mouth, trying to contain her laughter. Marco sent her a glare which broke her restrain and she started laughing loudly while her mother scolded her. They gave him a couple of minutes to prepare the next event. In the meantime he managed to ask for the results of the race. Apparently someone called Edward won the race, followed closely by Joshua in second and Jonathan in third place.

A few minutes later the contestants were called again to the arena, once Marco reentered the stadium, he saw something that made him smile.

In the middle of the arena there were targets, archery targets, to his left a rack with several bows and quivers.

"The next event" -the Queen announced loudly -"will be an archery competition. Each contestant will have three shots, each one will be judged and given a score based on the three" -Marco already felt more confident. Most of the other boys were fidgeting with the bow they had chosen, it was obvious to Marco that most of them hadn't touched a bow on their lives. Marco looked at Joshua and saw that he was just looking nervously at the bow he had no idea what to do with it.

"Having problems there dude?" -asked Marco in a friendly tone and Joshua looked at him with a desperate look on him eyes.

"I've never shot a bow before Marco, I'm more of a sword guy" -Marco chuckled at him and took the bow and the quiver of arrows that the boy had, Marco examined the bow for a couple of seconds before scoffing and putting it back on the rack, Marco looked around the selection of bows, took two and handed one to Joshua, then he took an arrow from his quiver and handed it to him.

"Let me see how you draw the bow" -said Marco and Joshua sheepishly drew his bow with the arrow. Marco shook his head and motioned to him to lower his bow.

"First of all, don't hold your bow like that unless you want to torn the skin of your arm off" -Marco then gave Joshua a quick lesson of archery, correcting his posture and teaching him how to draw the arrow correctly.

"So, it should be like this?" -asked Joshua holding the bow in position, the arrow slipped from his fingers and it flew nailing a corn cob that one of the people who were carrying things into the arena was going to eat.

"Sorry!" -yelled Joshua to the man who looked terrified at the sudden flying arrow.

"Your posture was good, just remember to hold the arrow with a little more strength" -said Marco looking at were the arrow flew.

After a couple of minutes the contestants stood in a line while Edward was going to take the first shots, apparently they were going in the same order of the races, which meant that Marco's turn was going to be in second to last.

Each shot that Marco saw made him a little sad inside. Edward hadn't managed to land a single arrow in his target. Next was Joshua, the boy was obviously inexperienced but thanks to Marco's advise he managed to land his three arrows on the target. None of them were nowhere near the center, but it was already the best score. Jonathan was next, he wasn't sure if the boy was just copying Joshua's style or if he had used a bow before, but he used the same position, however Marco noticed that the bow he was using wasn't well balanced and the arrow was a bit crooked. It was obvious to Marco that the arrows that they were using were used before. Jonathan took his shoot but the arrow flew to the right of the target, missing completely. Jonathan took his other two shots and managed to land them in the outer rings of the target. The shots from the next contestants were as bad as Marco imagined. One of them hurt his face drawing the bow string next to his face and another hurt his arm with a string slap. Marco was getting sad but was laughing at the same time. Just before his turn one boy he didn't knew went to take his shots. Marco noticed the posture of the boy and watched interested. The boy took his first shot and it landed in one of the outer rings, the next two landed in bulls-eye, the crowd cheered at him. The boy bowed to the crowd and returned to his place in the line. Marco was next, he confidently walked to the line in front of the target and took three arrows out from his quiver, Marco got lucky and managed to get a quiver with new, straight arrows. Marco noticed that the crowd was silent, he smiled to himself and cracked his neck, it was time to show off a little bit. Marco took the bow in one hand and the three arrows on the other, then Marco threw the three arrows one by one in the air, then he stretched and held his bow in position with the other hand raised in the air. In a demonstration of speed and skill Marco caught the first arrow and shot it at an impressive speed, hitting the target dead in the center, he quickly caught the second one and shot it, splitting the first one in half. Catching the third one, he gave a little spin and shot the third arrow, splitting the last arrow in half, Marco lowered his bow and bowed to the crowd who was still silent, a second later the people erupted in cheers, Marco looked at Star's direction and saw her standing on her feet cheering along with the King, the Queen limited herself at clapping politely.

"Nice shooting" -Marco heard someone say to him, it was the boy that shot before him.

"Thanks, you had really nice shots too" -Marco said and the boy shook his head.

"Thank you, but it was nothing as impressive as what you just did, in my defense I'll say that these arrows are horrible" -both boys laughed at this

"Yeah, they are really bad, same as some of the bows, most of them had really bad balance" -the boy nodded in agreement at Marco.

"I hope we can shot again some other time, preferably with better equipment" -the boy extended his hand and Marco shook it.

Once all contestants had their turns, the points were counted and it wasn't a surprise that Marco had the first place, followed by the other boy, who he learned was called Sebastian, with Joshua coming in third.

Marco was declared winner of the archery competition without any objection. The following events of the tournament were somewhat... odd in Marco's opinion, they were things that Marco never expected in this kind of tournament, things like a Cornbread eating competition, an obstacle race, even a staring competition, each time the Queen announced one of the events Marco could hear the exasperation on her voice, which made him think that most of these were Star's ideas. After event number 16, which was a "rock-paper-scissors" competition, the Queen made an announcement.

"And now it's time for the last event, the scores are really close so this event could decide the winner of the tournament, for our last event, a dueling tournament!" -the Queen declared and the crowd cheered in excitement -"for this event, our contestants will be paired on single elimination matches. When a contestant manages to draw blood or incapacitate his rival, the judge will declare him winner and will pass to the next round, since we have eight contestant we will have 3 rounds. To give the contestants time to prepare, we will have a break, so please enjoy and wait for the announcement" -said Moon while some bards entered the arena to perform while the boys left to the waiting rooms.

Marco returned to the room where he waited before and sat on a couch that was on the room, he breathed deeply in relief, while the events after the archery competition were ridiculous to say the least, he felt exhausted, so a little breather was welcomed, he poured himself a glass of water from a jar that was nearby when he heard footsteps near his door.

"Having fun there?" -asked Star leaning against a wall of the room -"I was really surprised when they announced you, if I knew you were in the competition I would have added some Earth events" -said Star confirming Marco's suspicions about the odd competitions.

"We wanted to give you a surprise you know, also it wouldn't be fair if I got an advantage if you manipulated the events"

"Nah I would just added some others but no easy ones" -said Star winking at Marco who mentally sighed in relief, who knows what kind of crazy thing swould his friend make him do if she knew that he was in the competition beforehand.

"Anyways, the fights are about to start, you want me to _move_ things around for you?" -asked Star twirling her wand and Marco shook his head at her

"No cheating for me Star, if I'm going to fight in this I want to win fairly" -Star shrugged and walked to the entrance of the room, she looked back at Marco

"Ok, do it your way then. Just be careful, I know that you're tough, but so they are, some of them are from my dad's kingdom so they know how to fight, the others have trained in fencing and that kind of things, so they are no pushovers when it comes to fighting" -Marco nodded acknowledging the information.

"I'll keep that in mind, but don't worry, I have a few tricks under my sleeve" -Star bounced in place, wished Marco good luck and left, a minute later the sound of a horn told the contestants that it was time to return to the arena. None of the contestants was allowed to use armor and since only Marco was wearing some kind of armor he had to remove his. Next they were shown a weapon's rack that was set so that they could choose a weapon. Marco noticed that most of his opponents grabbed some kind of sword, only one of the boys chose a big battle axe. Marco walked to the rack looking at the different weapons, none of them really fancied him.

Marco decided to take a war mallet with a metal head. Ragndell had showed him a couple of tricks with that kind of weapon, while it was going to be difficult to get "first blood" with it, the disabling part was going to be easier, he didn't want to hurt anyone too badly or scar someone by accident. Once everyone had a weapon, the first round of battles was chosen randomly. Marco looked at the chart that was displayed, he was going to fight in the third battle against a boy called Charles. Marco noted that the first battle was Joshua against Jonathan and the second battle was Edward against Sebastian, the fourth battle was the last two boys, Frederick against Henry. After the matches were announced they were told to leave the arena since only the ones who were going to fight were allowed in the arena along with the referee. Marco and the other contestants were given a separate place in the bleachers were they could see the fights. After a couple of minutes Joshua and Jonathan were ready to start the fight and the referee gave the signal. The fight looked really one sided in favor of Jonathan. Joshua was using a short sword along with a buckler which he was using very effectively to defend himself, but he couldn't get any opening against the heavy blows of Jonathan's long sword.

"It looks like Jonathan is still harsh against poor Joshua" -said Sebastian who was sitting next to Marco

"Do they know each other?" -asked Marco and Sebastian nodded

"Yes, they actually are cousins, I don't know them too well, but I have heard the rumors, apparently Jonathan likes to demonstrate just how strong he is to everyone he can, so Joshua had to take the brunt of the "demonstrations" -Marco said nothing but looked at the fight, now worried at the younger boy. The fight went in the same fashion for a couple of minutes, Joshua trying to defend himself while Jonathan swung his sword trying to open his defenses, Joshua was looking tired and was getting sloppier by the second, Jonathan took an opportunity and swung his sword nicking Joshua's leg, the cut was somewhat deep and was bleeding profusely, Joshua screamed in pain and dropped his shield, Jonathan too the chance and struck Joshua in the head with the hilt of his sword rendering him unconscious, which wasn't necessary since the referee had already proclaimed him the winner, Marco gritted his teeth but said nothing. Once Joshua was carried away from the arena the next fight began, Edward fought against Sebastian, Edward was using a regular longsword while Sebastian was using a rapier. Marco was very impressed by Sebastian's fencing style, he parried or deflected each blow that Edward delivered, after a minute Sebastian figured Edward's patterns and after deflecting a swing Sebastian took the chance and stabbed Edward's shoulder making him bleed quite a lot. The referee declared Sebastian winner and he advanced to the next round. Marco was up next and he walked to the center of the arena along with Charles, his opponent. Marco noticed that the boy was the one who had picked the battle axe, the referee gave the signal and the fight started. The fight went on pretty quickly, while Charles had a very good stance and it was obvious to Marco that he was used to handling an axe of that size, Marco was faster, so after Edward swung his axe Marco swung his hammer at his exposed side, his hit connected and the air left Edward's lungs. The boy was lying on the ground and as he was going to stand he felt pressure on his chest. Marco had his leg over his chest while his hammer was pinning down his right arm which was close to the axe. The referee declared Marco the winner and he passed to the next round. In the last fight Frederick made short work of Henry using a katana-like sword. The boy's movement were very fast and in no time he sliced Henry's chest, his shirt stained in blood.

The first fight of the semi-finals was about to start, Jonathan was in the arena alongside Sebastian, after the referee gave the signal and the fight started. Both fighters swung their weapons at each other testing their opponent's defenses and trying to find flaws in their patterns. After a couple of minutes of parrying and deflecting blows Marco cringed as Sebastian overextended his arm on an attempt to stab Jonathan who took advantage of his opponent's mistake and grabbed his wrist with one hand, with the other he struck Sebastian's arm with the hilt of his sword, a sickening crunch was heard through the arena and the people cringed at the sound, Jonathan then kicked Sebastian's chest and knocked him on the ground. Once the tip of his sword was on Sebastian's neck the referee declared him the winner. Marco didn't showed it on the outside, but inside he was angry, Sebastian was a fellow archer and if the injury was bad enough he wouldn't be able to shoot a bow again, Marco could only hope the best for him. Marco tried to calm down a little since it was time for his fight and he didn't wanted to place his anger on the wrong person. Once Marco and Henry were in the arena the referee gave the signal for the fight to start. The fight was somewhat anti-climatic, Marco's speed with his hammer was up to pair with Henry's katana, however Marco knew that he wouldn't be able to defend himself if he made a mistake so he stuck mostly to defense. After Henry slashed Marco took a chance and swung his hammer, however Henry reacted quickly and placed the katana in the path of the blunt weapon to defend himself, once the hammer made contact with the thin sword, it shattered in half, Marco and Henry both looked shocked at the blade-less hilt that Henry had in his hands, obviously none of them expected that to happen, seeing that he no longer had a weapon Henry surrendered and Marco advanced to the finals.

It was time for the final match, Marco and Jonathan stood in the middle of the arena facing each other. The referee gave the signal to start the fight and Jonathan held his longsword in position

"So let's see if you're as good in fighting as they say or if it's just rumors" -Marco narrowed his eyes at him

"You know, at first I was only going to beat you around a bit for being rude to Star last time, but now you have hurt my friends, you better hope that nothing happened to Sebastian's arm, because you'll be missing an arm yourself if something did" -said Marco in a low threatening tone. Jonathan smirked at him

"Those two are just weaklings, Sebastian is only good for political things and Joshua is just a poor excuse of a Johansen, he isn't strong enough to have our name" -Marco growled and then screamed at him

"The only one not worthy of the name Johansen is you, all of the Johansen I have met are not only proud warriors but also loving and kind people, you are just the opposite of that" -the words of Marco seemed to have an effect on him as Jonathan growled at Marco

"Enough chit-chat, come and fight me like a man!" -Jonathan said and Marco smirked

"I know a couple of girls that can fight better than you, but if that's what you want" -Marco took his mallet in one hand and threw it to a side of the arena, where it made a hole in one of the walls, then he got into his Karate position. Jonathan was confused at this but seeing that Marco was disarmed he charged and swung his sword, Marco expected this and caught the sword with the palms of his hands. Jonathan's eyes widened and with a movement of Marco's hands the blade broke in half. Before Jonathan had any chance to react Marco drove his fist into the boy's gut making him stumble backwards. Jonathan took a deep breathe and tried to recover himself. Once he regained his breath he look ahead of him and saw Marco staring at him, his eyes looked threatening but Jonathan didn't looked intimidated. Jonathan got into a sloppy brawler's position and prepared to fight once again, Marco huffed at the poor form of his opponent, it was obvious to him that he wasn't trained very well in hand to hand combat. Jonathan blinked once and Marco disappeared from his sight, before he even had the chance to question himself were his opponent went he felt a sharp pain on his side, looking downwards he saw Marco's fist on his side. What followed could only be described by the spectators as a total beatdown, Marco delivered punch after punch to his opponent's midsection, Jonathan tried to defend himself, but everytime he did Marco just took another opening and if he tried to punch back the attack was either blocked of deflected by Marco's arm. After a couple of minutes Marco stopped the attacks and Jonathan was barely able to remain on his feet.

"I have to tell, you're tough. Most people would have passed out by now. I would like to keep this for a while, but we all have better things to do. From now on I suggest you to be less rude to Star and my friends, because if I get angry at you again, what happened to the Demon Prince will look like a day in the spa" -before Jonathan had a chance to answer Marco punched him directly in the nose and sent the boy to the ground. Seeing that the boy was unconscious and that his face was bleeding from the broken nose the referee called the fight and Marco was declared the winner.

After Jonathan was taken away, Marco was called to the box were the Royal family were seated. A fanfare was played by trumpets and the Queen declared Marco officially the winner of the tournament. Star was bouncing on her feet, obviously happy that Marco had won. Star handed him a golden trophy and threw herself at him in a hug then she gave him a kiss on the cheek, Marco blushed profusely and he saw that Star was blushing too.

"Congratulations Marco!" -Star said smiling with a red face. Marco smiled at her and thanked her while River laughed loudly.

After a couple hours Marco and Star were wandering again at the festival, Marco was still getting congratulated by some of the townsfolk while they were walking around. Antorcha had gone somewhere so now it was only him and Star.

"That was very cool, seeing you back there, I just wish I could've participated too, but my Mom wouldn't have any of it" -Marco chuckled at her

"I know, you would have kicked their butts" -both of them laughed as they walked around the festival. It was getting late, but they went to get something to eat and they decided to get a corn cob on a stick. Marco looked at Star, she had changed again to her regular clothes, but he thought she looked beautiful under the orange glow of the sunset. Marco breathed deeply and looked at Star.

"So, did you knew about the legend that says that the winner of the tournament usually becomes the next king of Mewni?" -Marco asked and Star's face intermediately turned red and she started muttering

"T-that dumb legend, that's nothing, it's not like we're going to get married or something, I mean it's not like I don't want to, I didn't meant that, it's just that" -Marco grabbed Star's shoulders and interrupted her. He looked at her eyes and brought her close to him. After what Star felt like an eternity they got closer and shared a kiss. It lasted a couple of seconds but to them it felt like all of their lives. After they separated Star smiled brightly and latched to Marco hugging him tightly. Marco smiled and returned the hug.

"So... what was that about you wanting to marry me?" -Marco asked and Star buried her face into Marco's chest too embarrassed to look at him at the moment.

* * *

BONUS! Sleepover with a dragon.

Star and Antorcha were in the princess' bedroom, Star was sitting on her bed and Antorcha was lying on a pile of pillows at the feet of the bed.

"And then his pants got completely burned off, so he was there almost nude screaming his head off" - Star was laughing loudly as Antorcha finished telling her an embarrassing history from where Marco was training on her world.

"So tell me Antorcha, are there any cute dragon-boys that you like?" -asked Star since she was in the gossiping mood and the dragon gave a sigh

"There's this guy I like to hang out with, he's a metal dragon, but nothing serious you know, it's more like someone I like to hang out with, and what about you and Marco? Are you guys together now?" -asked Antorcha and Star blushed a deep red.

"M-me and Marco? W-why would we be together? It's not like he likes me like that..." -said Star and Antorcha snickered

"With how much he used to talk about you? Trust me, he likes you a LOT" -said the little dragon and Star buried her face in her pillow

"Are you sure?"

"I'll bet you my left wing that he does, he could rant about the things that he did with you and just how much he missed you for hours before I had to shut him up." -Star's face grew redder with each statement but also she got happier with each one, there was hope for him to like her.

"Anyways, I'm not here to make Marco look good, I should tell you about the time were he was still learning to control his powers and burned his eyebrows off" -the two of them stayed up until they were too tired to keep talking about embarrassing things that Marco did before.

* * *

AN: And that's the new chapter! I hope you guys liked it. I hope you guys liked the little kiss. Things aren't going to get easier for them, but at least now they know they have each other. Also there was that little extra bonus about the sleepover since I received a couple of messages about that. I honestly wasn't going to do anything extra with it, but I hope you guys liked that too. Any feedback is greatly appreciated so don't hesitate to let me know if there's anything you did or didn't liked. Hope to see you in the next one, Bye!


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